FMLA Study to be Conducted by Department of Labor

Next year, the Department of Labor plans to conduct a survey on how employees are using the Family and Medical Leave Act.  The survey will be completed by the department’s Wage and Hour Division and is intended to “provide insight into how families” use FMLA leave.

Since 1993, when FMLA legislation was signed into law, the Department of Labor has completed several surveys. The most recent survey, released in 2007, estimated that up to 17 percent of employees took FMLA leave in 2005.

The FMLA gives employees the right to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected unpaid leave a year because of certain family situations, such as the birth or adoption of a child, to take care of a sick child, or to care for their own medical problems.