HispanicBusiness

The first federal study in 13 years to examine the impact of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) finds that the law has had an overwhelmingly positive impact on workers, families and businesses.

The FMLA is the only federal law ever to help workers meet the dual demands of job and family. The National Partnership for Women & Families wrote and championed the FMLA, and has led efforts to defend and expand it in states and at the federal level. The organization today hailed the results of the new Department of Labor study, Family and Medical Leave in 2012, and urged Congress to expand the law and to adopt a national paid family and medical leave program.

Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of the day President Bill Clinton made the FMLA the first legislation he signed into law. The FMLA allows eligible workers up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave to recover from serious medical conditions, care for a family member, or bond with a new child. Workers have used FMLA leave more than 100 million times. Since 2008, the law has allowed military families to care for injured service members for up to 26 weeks and to address certain circumstances arising from a service member's deployment.

The Labor Department study, released this morning, interviewed more than 2,800 adults nationwide. It found that 16 percent of workers took FMLA leave within the last year, businesses have few problems implementing the law, and inability to afford unpaid leave is the primary reason workers do not take the FMLA leave they need.

"We intended the FMLA to be the first step on the road to a family friendly nation," said National Partnership for Women & Families President Debra L. Ness. "It's had an enormous impact, letting tens of millions of workers take leave when they needed it the most, and changing the culture in this country. Those are women who needed medical care during difficult pregnancies, fathers who took time to care for children fighting cancer, adult sons and daughters caring for frail parents, and workers taking time to recover from their own serious illnesses. Because of the FMLA, their health insurance continued and their jobs were waiting when they returned to work. The law has been a huge success but it's time - past time - to take the next step. We are asking Congress to expand the law so more workers can take leave for more reasons, and to adopt a national paid family and medical leave program."

Key findings from the new Department of Labor study, available here reveal:

-- Women made up 56 percent of employees who took leave in the past year.

The rate of leave taking among men has increased in small but steady increments in the 20 years since the FMLA was enacted.

-- A majority of employees reported taking leave for their own illness (57 percent). Twenty-two percent said they took leave for reasons related to a new child (including pregnancy, birth, adoption or foster care), and 19 percent reported taking leave to care for a parent, spouse or child with a serious health condition.

-- Most leaves were relatively short. Forty percent of workers reported they were away from work for 10 days or less; 70 percent were back at work within 40 days. Only women who took leave to care for a new child reported taking longer leaves, averaging about 58 days; men who took

leave to care for a new child took average leaves of about 20 days.