Family & Medical Leave

One way states can help women facing family and medical responsibilities is by adopting the policies reflected in the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The FMLA requires larger employers to allow workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to recover from their own illnesses or to care for certain family members in certain circumstances. (1) Unfortunately, nearly 40 percent of workers are not covered by the FMLA. (2) The Report Card examines whether states have expanded family and medical leave coverage to cover more people and/or to provide more generous family and medical leave benefits than the federal law does. (3)

Family & Medical Leave

	Strength Of Policy 2007	Change From 2004
ALABAMA
ALASKA
ARIZONA
ARKANSAS
CALIFORNIA
COLORADO
CONNECTICUT
DELAWARE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
FLORIDA
GEORGIA
HAWAII
IDAHO
ILLINOIS
INDIANA
IOWA
KANSAS
KENTUCKY
LOUISIANA
MAINE
MARYLAND
MASSACHUSETTS
MICHIGAN
MINNESOTA
MISSISSIPPI
MISSOURI
MONTANA
NEBRASKA
NEVADA
NEW HAMPSHIRE
NEW JERSEY
NEW MEXICO
NEW YORK
NORTH CAROLINA
NORTH DAKOTA
OHIO
OKLAHOMA
OREGON
PENNSYLVANIA
RHODE ISLAND
SOUTH CAROLINA
SOUTH DAKOTA
TENNESSEE
TEXAS
UTAH
VERMONT
VIRGINIA
WASHINGTON
WEST VIRGINIA
WISCONSIN
WYOMING

Meets Policy	2
Limited Policy	19
Weak Policy	0
No/Harmful Policy	30
Better	2
Worse	0
Same	49

Does the state have a family and medical leave law that offers protections in addition to those provided by the federal law?

States receive a "meets policy" if they provide paid family and medical leave. States receive a "limited policy" if they expand the federal FMLA but do not provide paid leave. States that have not expanded upon the federal policy receive a "no policy."

Data Source: Family and Medical Leave, 2007.

National Partnership for Women and Families, "Where Families Matter: State Progress Toward Valuing America's Families," February 2007; additional data provided by Steffany Stern, Work and Family Program Associate, National Partnership for Women and Families.

1. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq., applies to businesses with 50 or more employees and requires them to allow workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave a year to care for a newborn, newly-adopted child, seriously ill child, spouse, or parent, or to recover from their own serious health conditions.

2. National Partnership for Women and Families, "Family and Medical Leave Act," undated, available at http://www.nationalpartnership.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ourwork_fmla_FamilyandMedicalLeave&printer_friendly=1.

3. The following are ways that this source measures state expansions upon the FMLA: (1) states that have comprehensive or less than comprehensive family and medical leave laws that apply to employers for fewer than 50 employees; (2) states that allow leave for participation in children's educational activities; (3) states that require leave for family medical needs not covered by the federal law; (4) states that use a more expansive definition of a "family member" whose illness may justify leave; and (5) states that provide longer periods of family and medical leave. While there are some states that specifically provide additional family or medical leave benefits to their state employees, the state indicator measures only those states with laws applying to private sector and state employees.