Caring About Jobs and Families

In 1993, the Federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was signed into law. This legislation allows many working Americans the right to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave when a new child arrives, a family health crisis occurs or they themselves become ill. The FMLA protects jobs and benefits, but does not help pay the bills.

In the absence of paid medical leave, working families should not have to choose between economic security and providing vital care for ill children, spouses, domestic partners or elderly parents. 

1199SEIU supports pending New York legislation to enact the “Families in the Workplace Act” which will provide paid medical leave for working families to care for loved ones in the event of a medical emergency, or to care for newborns or newly adopted children. This legislation also creates new categories of unpaid leaves to enable a parent to meet with a child’s teacher or for bereavement in connection with the death of an immediate family or household member.