Changes Proposed for Family and Medical Leave Act

On February 11, 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a long-awaited Notice of Proposed rulemaking to update the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). These proposed rules represent the first regulatory changes to the FMLA since 1995.  The proposed regulations address a wide range of issues and call for significant changes to the current regulations in some areas. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller (D-CA)  immediately issued statements criticizing the proposal, which they claim will make it more difficult for workers to use the leave.   Senators Kennedy and Christopher Dodd (D-CT), who helped write the original law, said there are several ways Congress can respond once the rule is finalized. If the department waits until the end of the year to publish the final rule and a Democrat wins the White House, lawmakers could do away with the rule entirely early in 2009 under the Congressional Review Act.  This law allows Congress to withdraw regulations within 60 session days after they are published. The only time lawmakers have used the review provision was early in President Bush's first term (2001) when the Republican-controlled Congress revoked the ergonomics safety regulations that were drafted in President Clinton's administration.  A summary of the proposal is available at http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs_FMLA_NPRM.pdf.  The text and background information on the proposed rule is available at http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/FMLANPRM.htm.