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Family and Medical Leave Act
Department
of Labor
to Reconsider
Bush’s
Last-Minute FMLA Changes
(12/10/09) Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis announced Dec. 7 that she
is reviewing changes made early this year to regulations governing the
Family and Medical Leave Act. The announcement has set off speculation
that the Department of Labor will overturn revisions implemented at the
very end of the Bush administration. [read
more]
Burrus
Calls on Labor Department
To Reverse Bush FMLA Rules
(06/04/09) APWU President William Burrus has called on U.S. Department
of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis to rescind the new regulations governing
the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that were imposed by the Bush
Administration just days before the former president left office. The
Bush FMLA rules “weakened the law and made it more difficult
for workers to exercise the rights the legislation was designed to
protect,” Burrus said in his June 3 letter to Solis. [read
more]
‘FMLA
Restoration Act’ Introduced
(05/06/09)A bill intended to reverse changes to the Family
and Medical Leave Act regulations that were implemented just
before President Obama took office has been introduced in the
U.S. House. The FMLA Restoration Act, introduced on April 29
by Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH), would “nullify certain
regulations promulgated under the Family and Medical Leave Act
of 1993, and restore prior regulations.” [read
more]
New
FMLA Forms Available
(02/24/09) The APWU's FMLA forms have been
updated to meet revised certification requirements that took effect
Jan. 16, 2009. The
Family & Medical Leave Act does not require the use of any specific
form as long as the necessary information is provided; however, the
APWU recommends the use of the new forms when requesting Family & Medical
Leave.
[read
more]
New FMLA Rules Effective January 16
(01/16/09) The APWU has
been meeting with the Postal Service regarding the implementation of
changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) — changes
the Bush Administration implemented just four days before President
Bush leaves office. The changes, announced in November, make it harder
for workers who are covered by the law to use FMLA leave. The APWU
is also updating our FMLA materials (including APWU’s FMLA medical
certification forms) to reflect the changes. Those updated materials
will be distributed as they become available. [read
more]
Bush’s Lame-Duck Labor Department
To Implement Onerous FMLA Rule Changes
(11/17/08) As the Bush administration prepares to leave office,
it is giving workers one more kick in the teeth: The Department of
Labor announced last week that it would implement new regulations governing
the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that will make it harder for
workers who are covered by the law to use the leave. [read more]
FMLA Protections Threatened
(05/01/08) When the Department of Labor
made proposals early this year that would change the rules governing the
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, concerned advocates for workers’ rights
swung into action. By the April 11 deadline for submission of remarks
on the proposed rules, more than 1,600 comments had been posted on the
Labor Department Web site; among those, approximately 900 were from postal
workers. [read
more]
APWU
Members
Lead
The Charge
in Defense of FMLA
(04/14/08) APWU members rose
to an important challenge in recent weeks: Postal workers submitted more than
half of the postings to a Department of Labor Web site that features comments
regarding proposed revisions to the Family & Medical Leave Act that would
weaken the law. [read
more]
Union Files Objections
To
Proposed New FMLA Regulations
(04/11/08) The APWU has filed formal
objections to new Family and Medical Leave Act regulations proposed by
Bush Administration Labor Department officials on Feb. 11. “We
view with dismay,” the
union wrote, “the proposal by the Department of Labor to revise
FMLA Regulations in ways that would weaken and diminish the protections
of the law.” [Click
here to read the comments APWU submitted to the Federal Register.
- PDF]
Union
Members Urged
To Help Save FMLA Protections
Deadline for Objecting to New Rules is April
11
(04/08/08) Time is running out for union members to voice objections
to new regulations proposed by the Department of Labor that would undermine
employees’ medical
privacy protections and make it more difficult for workers to exercise their
rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). [read
more]
FMLA:
Here We Go Again
Bush Keeps Trying to Chip Away at Workers’ Rights
(03/28/08)
The headlines last July seemed to say it all: “Labor Department
Study Affirms That FMLA Is Working as Intended.” So union activists were
dismayed when seven months later the Department of Labor proposed sweeping
new regulations for the FMLA.
“Business as usual, that’s the only reasonable explanation,” said
APWU Legislative Department Director Myke Reid of the more-recent news stories. “It
seems like corporate America just won’t give up in its quest to strip
workers of their rights." [read more]
Union Activists Urged
To Fight Proposals to Gut FMLA
(03/06/08) APWU President William Burrus
has issued a call to action, asking the union’s officers and activists to fight proposed new
regulations that would weaken the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. “The
FMLA is the one of the most important pro-worker, pro-family laws in
recent memory,” Burrus said. “It has worked well for
both employers and employees. We must derail any attempt to dilute
its effectiveness.” [read
more]
Proposed
FMLA Regulations Threaten Medical Privacy, Other Protections
(02/21/08)
Shortly after agreeing to expand leave for military families, the Bush
administration proposed new regulations that would weaken employees’ medical
privacy protections and make it more difficult for workers to use leave
under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). [read
more]
New
Law Enhances FMLA Leave for Military Families
(02/21/08) Recent amendments
to the Family and Medical Leave Act will allow postal workers and others
covered by the law to take up to 26 weeks of leave to help eligible family
members recover from a military service-related injury or illness. [read
more]
Protecting, Preserving the FMLA
(09/01/07) One of the APWU’s
legislative priorities has been to protect the Family and Medical
Leave Act. In recent years, employers have been pressuring Congress,
alleging that the FMLA was not working, that it was forcing them to make
unreasonable accommodations, and that it was exposing them to increased
costs.
One way employers sought relief was by pushing for the term “serious condition” to be redefined to apply only to life-threatening conditions. They also sought to make it more difficult for employees to receive approval for intermittent FMLA absences through the establishment of requirements that leave be used in a minimum of eight-hour increments and that documentation be specific to the point that the privacy rights of employees would be compromised. [read more]
Labor Department Study Affirms
That FMLA ‘Is Working as Intended’
Unions Beat Back Effort to Weaken Law
(07/02/07) A Department
of Labor study released June 27 confirms what most Americans already know,
that “family and medical leave is good
for workers and their families, is in the public interest, and is good
workplace policy.”... “This conclusion is
a victory for the labor movement,” said
Legislative Director Myke Reid. “The DOL’s request for information
caused concern among unions because the agency, which implements workplace
rules for the FMLA, has used its regulatory authority in the past to
weaken workers’ rights.” [read
more]
Department of Labor Ponders FMLA Reform
(01/01/07) A new battle may be brewing over the Family and Medical Leave
Act, with employers using a recent Labor Department information-request
to try to weaken the 1993 law. After a notice seeking public comment
appeared in the December 2006 Federal
Register, numerous employers seized the opportunity to try to gain
more control and more restrictions on a worker’s right to take
intermediate leave. The typical claim is that the current process
is burdensome because employees can request leave in the smallest
increments allowed by their payroll system. [read
more]
