Dear LCLAA Members and Allies,
This Sunday marks the 30th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a labor law that has guaranteed eligible employees with 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for family and medical reasons.
In these thirty years, the bill has made more parents able to take leave to care for their children and has had a significant impact on women in the workforce. By protecting their employment status, FMLA has increased the bargaining power of workers and more women have been able to return to work after giving birth. FMLA deserves to be celebrated for the jobs it has protected and for all the families who have been able to spend this critical time together.
However, despite all this good, as an unpaid leave program, only the small group of workers who can afford to not be paid are able to benefit from FMLA. The bill is further restricted by its strict eligibility requirements which make only half of all working parents eligible for this unpaid leave.
This anniversary reminds us of what our nation still lacks - a paid family leave program. The United States is still the only OECD country without paid family leave, and workers in this country deserve better. They deserve a paid family leave program that will give all workers of all incomes and all backgrounds the right and the ability to devote this necessary time to care for their families.
LCLAA is determined to press Congress and the Administration to once again be bold and to prioritize the health and safety of working families nationwide by passing a paid family leave program.
Yanira Merino
National President of LCLAA
