Reference no: EM133053338
Sheryl works for Landrum Communications, a company that places ads on websites and social media platforms. The company is quite successful, employing more than 400 people in its San Francisco headquarters. Early this year, Sheryl's mother Tamara was diagnosed with a treatable form of cancer, Hodgkin's lymphoma. Tamara needs to undergo radiation treatments, and Sheryl needs time off work to care for her mother.
Fortunately, Sheryl is covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). This law allows employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period to care for a seriously ill family member, to care for a new child (including an adopted child), or to recover from their own serious illness. In passing the law, the U.S. Congress noted that at the time, the "lack of employment policies to accommodate working parents can force individuals to choose between job security and parenting." It also noted that "due to the nature of the roles of men and women in our society, the primary responsibility for family caretaking also falls on women, and such responsibility affects the working lives of women more than it affects the working lives of men."
The law applies to employers of 50 or more employees. While on leave, employees keep their health insurance benefits, and when they return to the workplace, they generally have the right to return to the same or an equivalent job. Several states have expanded the provisions of FMLA. For example, California extends FMLA to include attending a child's school or educational activities.
QUESTIONS
1. Which of the eight functions of law discussed in this chapter is the likely basis for the Family and Medical Leave Act?
2. Which school of jurisprudential thought is the likely foundation for the Family and Medical Leave Act: the Natural Law School, the Analytical School, the Command School, the Critical Legal Studies School, or the Law and Economics School?
3. Is the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 a federal statute or a state statute? Explain.
4. Which branch of the U.S. government enacted FMLA? Which branch has the power to enforce that law? Which branch has the power to interpret and determine the validity of the law?