Support for the Family and Medical Leave Act

The purpose of this letter is to urge you to pass the Family and Medical Leave Inclusion Act (H.R. 2364/S. 1283). Currently, the Family and Medical Leave Act only provides leave of absence from employment for an individual to care for a spouse, parent, or child with a serious health condition. The Family and Medical Leave Inclusion Act (FMLIA) would broaden this act to include provision of care to one’s same-sex spouse, domestic partner, parent-in-law, adult child, sibling, grandchild, and grandparent.

According to the National Alliance for Caregiving, a third (32%) of caregivers care for a relative other than a spouse, parent, or child. This illustrates there is a great need for this legislation to amend the Family and Medical Leave Act in order to support these caregivers and their family members. The FMLIA would expand the definition of family and accommodate for the circumstances that do not meet the traditional standard of a nuclear family. This legislation would support a variety of family relationships and will allow the law to adapt in order to reflect the diverse formations of families.

There exists a litany of over eighty organizations that support this piece of legislation, including but certainly not limited to: American Academy of Pediatrics, American Association of People with Disabilities, Human Rights Campaign, Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action, National Hispanic Council of Aging, Families USA, and the National Child Abuse Coalition. This demonstrates there is wide and diverse support for the FMLIA that should be considered when deliberating on the necessity of this bill.

The Family and Medical Leave Act, as it stands, discriminates against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender couples, as their relationship is not acknowledged or protected. A patient with a serious health condition may have their same-sex partner as their main or sole source of support. Unfortunately, their partner’s employment may be jeopardized, as their leave of absence to care for them is not sanctioned by the law. The FMLIA allows for inclusion and equal rights of these partnerships. Therefore, an individual will not have to choose between maintaining their job or caring for the well-being of their loved one. To vote in favor of the FMLIA would be promoting social justice and advocacy of oppressed populations.

Organizations and companies may suffer if they are not able to retain an employee’s position due to their leave to care for a family member. Employers may lose valuable members of their staff if an employee’s needs to care for an ill family member are not accommodated. The enactment of the amendment would help reduce employee turnover, as a greater number of jobs could be retained. The workplace environment would be improved if employees were not faced with the stress that they could lose their jobs and their income in the event of a family emergency. The distress that employees would experience could hinder their ability to work efficiently and may discourage their loyalty to their place of employment.

In conclusion, many hard-working American families are still not protected with the current legislation. The Family and Medical Leave Inclusion Act serves as a remedy to address the gaps in the current law and creates greater flexibility for citizens to be able to serve as caregivers and supply the needed support for their family members.  I ask that you vote in favor of these bills to enact the Family and Medical Leave Act in order to ensure that U.S. families are protected.

Thank you for your consideration,

[Your Name]