Family Medical Leave Act: Fill & Download for Free

Because we lived through his administration and have functional memories.The racist Willie Horton ad.Refusing to sign the Family Medical Leave Act.Expanding the War on Drugs, and having a fake drug buy arranged in Lafayette Park so he could go on TV and claim that you could buy crack across the street from the White House.Continuing the Reagan policy of essentially ignoring the AIDS crisis.Being neck-deep in the Iran-Contra scandal.Pardoning most of the other people involved in Iran-Contra so we don’t know exactly how involved he was.Vetoing the Civil Rights Act of 1990.Vetoing the National Voter Registration ActBeing strongly anti-choice.Nominating Clarence Thomas to the Supreme CourtCalling for an amendment to the Constitution to outlaw flag burning

Wait, you think the US has maternity and paternity leave? HAhahahahahahaha.Sorry, but we’re one of the only countries in the entire world that doesn’t have mandated parental leave.Only about 4% of US workers have access to paid maternity or paternity time. Those that do tend to be 6 weeks to 3 months at best, with only a couple tiny outliers going over that.On top of that , the Family Medical Leave Act dictates that companies only need to grant someone 12 weeks in any given year (consecutive or nonconsecutive, doesn’t matter) unpaid for any kind of leave for illness, illness of a child or direct relative, or parental leave. If you go over that 12 weeks, they can legally fire you. And companies that have fewer than 50 total employees don’t even have to follow FMLA at all, plus you don’t qualify for FMLA unless you work a certain number of hours in the year preceding.With a move towards hiring people just below full time hours so that they don’t have to pay benefits and a lot of small companies, that means a large percentage of American workers don’t even fall under the meager protections of FMLA.

It isn’t.The United States is one of the only countries in the world with no mandated maternity leave. ZERO.Only around 4% of companies in the US offer paid maternity leave, covering just 15–18% of American workers. The amount varies heavily by company too- it’s not a standard six weeks, and not everyone qualifies in those companies to access it.All Americans who work at companies over a certain size have access to something called FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act), which ensures that at least their employer cannot fire them if they take medical leave for pregnancy, for up to 12 weeks a year (this is TOTAL- covering all medical absence and/or caring for a sick relative). However this is all unpaid, and most American women can’t afford to be out of work that long. A large percentage are back at work within two weeks of giving birth. If you work for a company with fewer than 50 employees, however, you’re just out of luck.I was out of work for 10 weeks after my son was born, because I had a complicated cesarean and was not cleared by my doctor to return. Not a single day of it was paid, and I am lucky that my husband and I are in a financial situation where my income wasn’t necessary for us to survive.