Ask any human resources professional which law causes the most problems day-in-and-day-out, and the majority will say the Family and Medical Leave Act.  Almost since the law was first enacted in 1993, employers have been calling for changes to stem abuse and clarify the meaning of key terms, and employee groups have been lobbying for change as well.  A little change may be about to occur, but that’s been promised before.

On January 24, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that under proposed new regulations, employees would have to call in to request FMLA leave before taking it, as opposed to the present situation where employees can take off two days before requesting leave.  Employers had hoped for much more than this.

The DOL also reported that it’s drafting regulations to put into effect changes Congress approved for families of wounded veterans.  Under the Defense Authorization Act, containing Congress’ first changes to the FMLA since 1993, family members would be allowed to take up to six months unpaid leave to care for wounded military personnel.  This Act would also let employees take up to 12 weeks off “for any qualifying exigency” related to a family member’s call-up to active duty.  President Bush has not yet signed this Act.

HR won’t find the meaningful changes they’ve hoped for in either the proposed regs or this Act.  The FMLA needs a major overhaul, but that’s unlikely to happen in an election year and probably unlikely to ever happen.  In fact, some presidential candidates are calling for an expansion of the law, and few politicians are likely to lobby for changes that will be described by labor and employee groups as a favor for big business.  Meanwhile, the day-in-and-day-out struggles to comply with the FMLA by relatively small and mid-size businesses will continue.