Constitutional Status of the Family and Medical Leave

Question: Describe about the Constitutional Status of the Family and Medical Leave. Answer: Under what authority in the constitution could congress mandate that employers give paid leave for maternity or family medical leave? 1. The Congress can mandate the above under Section 5 of the US constitution along with the Commerce Clause (i.e Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3) (Kenny, 2004). Review the laws discussed in the chapter and whether the FMLA is comparable in coverage 2. In the given chapter, various employment laws have been discussed which deal with regulation of wages and hours, compensation for unemployment, safety at workplace, compensation laws along with privacy laws besides FMLA. Based on these laws, it is apparent the FMLA is not comparable in coverage with the other laws that deal with safety and wage regulation. This is because FMLA does not cover private businesses which have less than 50 employees and covers only 50% of the total labour force. Besides, the other employment laws are in line with global standards but the same is not true for FMLA as US is the only major developed country which has unpaid maternity leaves (Simmons, 2000). Discuss the policies behind giving the medical leave what is the nation trying to accomplish and is the FMLA written appropriately to meet those goals? 3. By extending the medical leave, the nation is trying to accomplish that the employees can balance their personal and professional commitments. As a result, medical leaves are provided to cover not only the employees illness but also the immediate familys illness along with pregnancy (Simmons, 2000). The EMLA was enacted in the year 1993 with the above objective but it has failed to do so. This is because the leaves provided are of unpaid nature and hence act as a deterrent for the employees even for their valid needs. This is particularly applicable for maternity leave where a long leave is required and unpaid leaves leads to financial burden on the family which puts them into debt and thereby causes instability. Additionally, FMLA covers only state and federal employees along with those working in private institutions with more than 50 employees and hence covers only 50% of the total labour force (Ludden, 2013). References Kenny, S. (2004), The Constitutional Status of the Family and Medical Leave Act, Retrieved on August 5, 2016 from https://www2.tulane.edu/newcomb/upload/family_medical_leave_act.pdf Ludden, J. (2013), FMLA Not Really Working For Many Employees, Retrieved on August 5, 2016 from https://www.npr.org/2013/02/05/171078451/fmla-not-really-working-for-many-employees Simmons, E. (2000), The Family and Medical Leave Act: Well Meaning Legislation Meets the Strong Arm of the Constitution of the United States, Journal of Contemporary Health Law Policy, 17(1), 349-368