Printing Industries of New England

5 Crystal Pond Road, Southborough, MA 01772-1758
508-804-4100 508-804-4119 (fax)

The largest trade association to serve commercial printing and graphic communications companies in five New England states.

Issue
Should Congress expand the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to require businesses with between 25 and 50 employees to comply with FMLA? Should Congress allow employees an additional 24 hours of leave per year to attend their children’s school activities or assist their elderly relatives? Should employers be required to provide paid family and medical leave?

Status
A number of bills have been introduced to expand the FMLA in different ways. Pressure had been building to broaden availability to more people, in more circumstances, and with pay. However, since September 11th and its impact on employment, action on these bills has stalled. Pressure is also building from the business community to address some of the problems with administering the FMLA, such as restricting the definition of “serious health condition.” Employers have received some help on restricting the FMLA from the courts and the Bush administration. However, the Congressional threats remain.

Concerns
Current law requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide up to 12 weeks off for the birth, adoption, or foster care of a child or for the care of the employee, a spouse, or a dependent.

Printers do their best to comply with FMLA regulations, but those with fewer than 50 employees will face additional challenges. These employers rarely have a human resource person on staff who can deal with the confusing regulations contained in the FMLA. Many employers are likely to be fined for accidental violations of the law even if they do their best to comply.

Many printers have experienced problems with the current FMLA law. Specifically, printers have difficulties tracking intermittent leave, determining whether an employee has a “serious health condition,” and dealing with conflicts between workers’ compensation, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and FMLA light duty requirements. Expanding leave would add to the burden employers already face and would trivialize a law designed to help families address critical emergency situations.

Position
PIA opposes the expansion of the FMLA. It would be more helpful if Congress examined the effectiveness of and problems with current law before attempting to expand it. PIA opposes any effort to require smaller businesses to comply with the Act.