Family and Medical Leave Act essay

This is a Federal law in the United States of America that was enforced in 1993. It advocates for provision of unpaid work- protected leave to workers from their employers. Though this is only approved on the basis of family or medical care. This includes pregnancy, military leave, individual or family sickness, and adoption. Basically, this law aims at creating a balance within the work and family institutions by ensuring employees have full protection from their bosses.

However, not all the workers qualify to be covered by this law. For instance an employee must have worked for more than a year and more than 1300 hours within that year so as to be an eligible applicant.  This law does not apply to employees in companies with less than fifty workers. It is also only applicable to the immediate family of the employee that is the child or spouse. This bit has been controversial and many people call for the amendment of this law. Several states have already reviewed this law, and it has been improved as it now extends to adult children and even the next of family connections. The number of people working in a given institution should not deny an employee the chance of getting a leave on whatever basis.

The different types of leave like the pregnancy leave create a situation whereby it is expensive to employ women. Employers have the likelihood of discriminating women during the recruiting process. Most employers argue that women employees will not be committed to their work, because when they get pregnant they will have to go for leave.  This should be amended as both partners should be entitled to the pregnancy leave. This will help to dispel such mentalities from the mind of most employers. Both women and men should be encouraged to apply for leave which concerns such sensitive family issues in the same proportions.