Employers are cheering the release earlier this month of proposed changes to the nation’s 15-year-old Family and Medical Leave Act.

The changes put forward by U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Elaine Chao are aimed at cracking down on fraud and abuse by employees who take the unpaid leave and don’t use it for the intended purpose of treating a medical condition or caring for an injured or ill family member.

Under the 1993 law, which allows workers at companies with at least 50 employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, employers are required to hold positions for workers. That forces the employer to spread the person’s work to other employees or to hire temporary help. But employers have chafed at the wide latitude the law gives workers in obtaining doctor certification for the medical leave.

“Right now, there’s really no way for the employer to tell if a worker or a worker’s family member is seriously ill or just wants the time off from work,” said Thi Ha, human relations manager with CPE HR, a West Hollywood-based human relations consulting firm.

Under the proposed changes, which must still be approved by Congress, doctor certification must meet more stringent criteria. “If these changes pass, generic doctor letters will no longer be sufficient. This will be of help to employers,” Ha said.

The proposed changes also require that workers give their supervisors more advance notice when they take non-emergency leave under the FMLA. Under the current law, notice doesn’t have to be filed until the moment the leave is begun. Ha said the requirement for advance notice will give employers time to make alternative arrangements to handle the person’s workload during the absence. For emergency leaves, such as dealing with a spouse’s stroke or heart attack, the Labor Department has said it will issue notification guidelines in the next few months.

The Labor Department also has proposed broadening the leave rights of workers who have to care for injured spouses in the military. These workers would now be able to take up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave. “No doubt this length of time will be hard on employers with workers who have injured military spouses,” Ha said.

Overall, though, groups such as the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Retail Federation welcomed the changes. “The new rules will help modernize a confusing and contradictory FMLA regulatory system that is often challenging for employees to understand and difficult for employers to administer,” said Rob Green, National Retail Federation vice president for government affairs, in a statement.

But workers’ rights advocates, unions and many Democratic lawmakers oppose the changes, saying they would hinder the ability of workers to take unpaid leave to care for sick or injured family members.

Sen. Chris Dodd, one of the authors of the original FMLA, said the changes are not warranted. “I am at a loss concerning the proposed regulations. The struggle to keep a job and care for your family is one that reverberates through our society. Why is this administration intent on making it more challenging for families and for businesses alike?” said Dodd, in a statement.

The Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families, which Dodd chairs, is currently holding hearings on the proposals.

Apprenticeship Program

With billions of dollars in public works projects expected in the next few years as the state spends much of the $40 billion in infrastructure bonds approved by voters in 2006, state officials are concerned that some of the projects could run aground because of an obscure state labor law. Specifically, a law has been on the books for decades requiring that for every five full-time or “journeymen” construction workers on a project, there must be one apprentice, someone who is paid slightly less but gets on-the-job training and eventually graduates to a full-time position. Trouble is, there are not enough candidates to fill all the apprentice slots. And if the apprentice slots can’t be filled, the project must come to a halt.

Enter the state Department of Industrial Relations, which is about to launch a $30,000 public awareness program to lure candidates into construction apprentice programs, most of which are run by the building trade unions.

“Right now, people aren’t that interested in physical labor and they don’t view this as an attractive career path,” said John Duncan, Department of Industrial Relations director. “But many people just don’t know about the apprenticeship option and how well-paid these positions are.”

Posting Time

It’s a law that’s often overlooked, but each year, between Feb. 1 and April 30, all California employers with at least 11 employees must post a form listing all the work-related injuries and illnesses that occur in the workplace or while completing job-related duties.

Specifically, injuries and illnesses must be recorded that involve loss of consciousness, restricted work activity, job transfer, days away from work or medical treatment beyond simple first aid. The log must be kept year-round, but it must be posted for 90 days in a common area in the workplace, such as a lunchroom.

To download the form, log on to the California Department of Occupational Safety and Health Web site at dir.ca.gov/dosh/PubOrder.asp and scroll down to the “recordkeeping” section.

Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 227 or at

[email protected]

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