The law also provides an employee with time off to care for a seriously ill family member or for the employee s own serious health condition. However after Congress passed the law, the United States Department of Labor wrote the implementing regulations the details of how the law would be applied and enforced and the law has now drifted far from its original intent. Because of the Labor Department s shortsighted and confusing regulations, the FMLA has come to stand for the Far More Leave Than Anyone Intended Act. The overly broad regulations make it difficult for employers to prevent abuses of FMLA leave, allowing some workers to demand significant time off for minor or questionable conditions. This may make a great sound bite for politicians, but issues such as the various costs of the program, employee abuse, and coworker resentment are ignored.
Government mandates sound great on the surface.
They are attractively wrapped and packaged, but they come with a hidden price tag. We hear that the government authorizes you to have more time with your family. It seems free. It seems simple. It seems wonderful.