FAMILY LEAVE: NEW LAW HAS HITCH FOR BUSINESS

In response to the nation's changing workforce, a new law protects employees whose family responsibilities force them to take time away from the job.

The Family and Medical Leave Act takes effect Aug. 5 and will apply to more than 45 million workers, about 40 percent of the U.S. labor force.

Under FMLA, eligible employees of covered employers may take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave during any 12-month period to care for their spouses, parents or children with serious medical conditions, for their own serious health condition, or for newborn or newly adopted children.

The law applies to all public agencies, including state, local and federal employers, and schools. It also applies to private-sector employers with 50 or more employees.

"Now millions of our people will no longer have to choose between their jobs and their families," said President Bill Clinton in touting the legislation.

The act was the first to become law under President Clinton. Such legislation had twice been vetoed by former president George Bush.

Missouri Sens. Christopher Bond and John Danforth voted for the measure. Bond said the measure "makes good, common sense."

"It just makes sense to say to an employee, `You don't have to choose between a sick child, a sick parent and your job.' That's the whole purpose of it," said Bond.

However, for employers, FMLA adds more regulations to the alphabet soup they already deal with: ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985) and ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974).

"From an employee's standpoint, it sounds wonderful," Chamber of Commerce President Robert B. Hendrix said. "For employers, it's a nightmare.

"Now don't get me wrong; the intent is good. But this is something that needs to be worked out between an employer and employee. The government doesn't need to get involved."

Initially, the law pertains to businesses with 50 or more employees, but Hendrix predicts in a few years the law will be extended to include businesses with one or more employees.

"This is one of those good things that can have bad consequences," Hendrix said. "The biggest problem with this law for small businesses will be retaining a viable workforce.

"When you take someone out of workforce for 12 weeks, who is going to pick up the slack? Someone else is going to have to be working overtime; that's an imposition on other employees."

But he said a bigger problem looms on the horizon.

"This law is just added to their worries," Hendrix said. "Every year more regulations and more costs are being put on the small businessman. Between taxes and regulations, the government is telling businesses how to do business. All of it together is having a very detrimental effect on the small businessman."

Richmond Payne, partner in the law firm Lichtenegger, Payne and Weiss in Jackson, agrees that employers are worried about the compounding effect of legislation.

"I've gotten several calls from clients who are concerned," Payne said. He has been mailing information about the law, trying to answer some questions.

"There is the play between Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. All those things are interplaying," Payne said.

"Small businesses, in my opinion, are being regulated to death," he said. "With all these regulations, it's to the point that a lot of times a business has to have legal counsel review the policies they make."

For employees, the law offers some job security in a time when workers face added family obligations.

As the population ages, growing numbers of the elderly depend on working family members. Children, too, increasingly rely on working parents for care.

In more than 60 percent of all U.S. families, both spouses work outside the home, creating a challenge for working parents who need to care for young children. About 42 percent of mothers in the workforce have children under age 6.

The Families and Work Institute predicts that by 1995, two-thirds of women with pre-school-age children and three-quarters of women with school-age children will be in the labor force.

In addition, the National Council on Aging estimates that 20-25 percent of U.S. workers have some care-giving responsibilities for an older relative. This number will increase because the number of people over the age of 65 is expected to double in the next decade.

As of 1990, only 18 percent of male employees and 37 percent of female employees in companies of 100 or more employees were covered by unpaid parental leave policies.

A 1990 U.S. Small Business Administration study found that 30-40 percent of employers with more than 50 workers did not offer job-guaranteed sick leave.