New unpaid-leave rule irks worker advocates

[cal04]

Source: CBS Marketwatch

New rules from the Bush administration will make it tougher for many workers to take unpaid leave, critics said Friday, while military families are gaining support.

On Monday the Labor Department will publish a final rule that updates the Family and Medical Leave Act's regulations by expanding coverage to military family members, a move that labor advocates like, but also cutting the window during which workers can tell bosses that they need to take leave. The final rule is effective in mid-January.

"The new (Family and Medical Leave Act) regulations for workers take us in the wrong direction, and are harmful and unnecessary," said Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, in a statement. "They will restrict access to protections workers have relied on for 15 years, protections they need now more than ever with the economy in deep trouble and families struggling terribly."

Specifically, Ness criticized aspects of the new rules that she said would give employers more direct access to worker health information, cut the time that workers have to give notice of the need for leave and increase procedures that have to be followed when requesting leave.

The new rules are particularly frustrating to worker advocates who have been looking for further Family and Medical Leave Act expansion under the upcoming Barack Obama administration.

Read more: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid=%7BBB2AA62F%2DAF3A%2D467E%2D9B96%2D1A5E389C259A%7D&siteid=rss

[Joe Chi Minh]

1. How infuriating that this should take place at this juncture, of all times.

[lligrd]

2. WTF??

"By finalizing the family leave rules now, the Bush administration has made sure that if the Obama administration wants to rescind or modify the business-backed changes, it will face a long and drawn-out regulatory process."

I hope Obama scraps the entire thing and get a new one passed in an emergency session.

[AzDar]

3. K & R ...

:puke:

[ladywnch]

4. hopefully this will be another rule that the Obama team will be able to

halt or undo using that Clinton law that was cited several days ago.

There is no low that these bastards won't stoop to.

[Doremus]

5. Mean, vindictive bastards love to stick it to the working class.

God I hate them.