William Ford: “little over a year ago, this Congress passed H.R. 1, the Family and Medical Leave Act. President Clinton quickly signed…”

“little over a year ago, this Congress passed H.R. 1, the Family and Medical Leave Act. President Clinton quickly signed this measure into law. Its enactment was the culmination of a decade-long struggle which was successful only when a Democrat was elected to the White House. Throughout the debate on the bill, opponents claimed that the measure would impose a costly new mandate on businesses. We argued that the requirement of a modest period of unpaid family leave would only be used by employees who had a pressing need to care for themselves or family members. On March 20, The New York Times carried an article that surveyed many in the human resources field and concluded that the supporters of the act were right and that the opponents were not. Despite the worst expectations of companies large and, especially, small, the Family and Medical Leave Act, which entitles employees to up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave a year for family medical emergencies, appears to have had little negative impact since it went into effect last August.”