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Our current maternity leave standards are unfriendly and unhealthy for working families, and working single mothers. New mothers are are under considerable physical and emotional duress which is not only caused by the natural processes of pregnancy, delivery, and caring for a newborn, but also in part by the worry of maternity leave from work. In cooperation with the government, companies must provide at least partial pay for the 12 week leave, and consider putting into place a family-friendly system that would not only lessen the burden on new mothers and families, but actually increase an employees committment and productivity for that company – my suggestion is similar to vesting – for example, besides the FMLA 12 week, there would be additional leave credits available based on a seniority scale of work history with that company..ie if a mom worked for a company for x amount of years, she would be entitled to an additonal x months of paid or partially paid leave. Creating a better future for our children starts at the roots of our economy – our workforce. When you don’t give mothers the resources they need to properly start the life of a new child, you are putting that child behind the proverbial 8 ball even before they get to our education system.

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Dear Commissioners
On the eve of the renewal of the FMLA, it’s time to revisit and expand the traits that are best about it.

Instead of gutting the provisions included in the existing law, now is the time to bring the FMLA in step with the 21st century and make the US again a leader in this area. Of the 168 countries surveyed in a Harvard study, the US was one of four that didn’t offer paid leave for new mothers, alongside Lesotho, Swaziland, and Papau New Guinea. This is an embarrassment to our nation.

Expand coverage to include mothers in all companies, not just those with employee counts over 50, and include provisions for paid leave. Nothing less is acceptable.

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To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to express my support for the current medical and maternity leave law, and ask that it be expanded NOT scaled back. A society is only as successful as its families, and most societies and governments today acknowledge this by giving adequate leave time for care providers when necessary. According to a Harvard study of 168 countries, we were one of only FOUR countries that didn’t mandate paid leave for new mothers – in the company of Papua New Guinea, Swaziland and Lesotho. A government that does not recognize the importance of mothers by requiring paid maternity leave doesn’t respect or support families.
As a new mother who had to leave my job in order to take care of my newborn daughter, I urge you to resist the pressure of corporate lobbyists and find the power to EXPAND the FMLA. For mothers, for children, for families and for a more powerful, prosperous community in which all citizens are honored for their work and contributions – MAKE THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT STRONGER!

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I am going to be a dad soon and fortunately I will be able to benefit from the FMLA. However, I am troubled that the Department of Labor would like to scale down the FMLA. In a country like the United States (any country for that matter) a system which supports mothers and families should be paramount.

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…because of the restriction on company size, which is not overall company size, but size at your work location, or so my company told me. The company I worked for at the time I gave birth had over 50 employees, but not in my location — as a result, I had no right to coverage under FMLA.

Most of my maternity leave was unpaid also because of the structure of our benefits program, where short-term disability could not be used during the exclusionary period for long-term disability, so I had a short period of leave, a short period of short-term disability, and then was forced to go on unpaid leave for over a month during the LTD exclusion period, then was paid 50% of my salary for a couple of weeks, and then waited at the mercy of my company for a role to open into which I could be reintroduced, my project having ended while I was out on maternity.

And as a mother of my son (now a toddler), I am constantly amazed at how hard it is to be both a mother and a full-time employee. Despite laws not requiring me to reveal that I have children, I felt it only reasonable to tell my new employer about my toddler, because I needed to know that they would work with me on the flexibility I need to handle child responsibilities, in particular a set day care drop-off time in the morning which sometimes interferes with my availability for business.

I have a husband, a well-paying job, and I still find balancing motherhood with career difficult; I can’t imagine how single mothers with multiple children manage in our society.

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I am an obstetrician and mother of two, and I am writing to urge the Department of Labor to expand the Family Medical Leave Act. I care for women with high risk pregnancies, and my patients frequently must take time off from work for physician appointments, hospitalizations and bed rest. Many give birth to preterm babies, who spend the first few months of life in intensive care. These moms have myriad worries — and FMLA at least allows those who work for larger companies to know they will have a job waiting for them in 12 weeks.

For many, however, unpaid leave is not enough, and they cannot afford to take more than a few weeks off after their baby’s birth. In a recent study, the US was one of only four countries without some form of paid parental leave. We share this dubious distinction with Papua New Guinea, Swaziland and Lesotho. If the current administration cares about family values, then it will start by implementing policies that value families. Expanding the Family Medical Leave Act is a great place to start.

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Six years ago, when I was 27, my colon became infected, and ruptured. My daughter was 3 at the time. I had emergency surgery the next day, and was able to take 6 weeks off under FMLA to recuperate. I needed to have a second surgery several months later, to reverse a colostomy I had received during the first surgery, and was able to take 4 weeks off under FMLA the second time. If not for my employer being covered under FMLA, I would have lost my job. I did lose a job (with a different employer) while I was on maternity leave with my daughter, because the company was too small to be covered under FMLA. I believe that the FMLA should apply to ALL employers and ALL employees, not just companies with more than a certain number of employees.

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Hello,
I would like to briefly beg you to reconsider scaling back the FMLA laws. When I had my two daughters 8 and 10 years ago, I was allowed 6 weeks of unpaid leave. I surely didn’t want to go back to work after 6 weeks, but I HAD to, my family could not afford for me not to, and we had money in the bank and good insurance. I only wonder what hardships other mothers who work must face who don’t have money set aside, compassionate employers and insurance.
C’mon, we are not a third world country. Moms need time off to get their health, strength and energy back, not to mention care for their newborns. This is America, take care of your moms.

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As a working mother of two young children, I wouldn’t have been able to spend time with them as newborns if it hadn’t been for the FMLA. To think that the USA is one of only four countries in the world not to offer PAID leave to new mothers is simply ridiculous. I have worked hard for the same company for 8+ years and as the primary breadwinner for my family, being on unpaid maternity leave made it very difficult for my family’s finances. Please reconsider the status of the FMLA and maybe even add to the act by requiring companies to pay employees while they are out for what is supposed to be a truly wonderful time if your life.

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I have heard that there is a possibility the Family Medical Leave Act may be scaled down. This would be a disgraceful action. As the only non-3rd world country out of 168 countries investigated which DOES NOT offer some type of paid medical leave, we should be expanding the FMLA, not trying to gut it. When I had a child three years ago, I had to tap into my retirement savings to pay my family’s bills while I was out of the work force. While it was wonderful to be able to stay home for 90 days with my newborn without risking losing my job, it was frightening to not have any source of income during that time.

Please not only support retaining the FMLA, but take action to make it more useful to those it is intended to assist.

Thank you.

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