The new Administration is trying to make good on their campaign promise to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) from companies that employ 50 or more workers to cover businesses with as few as 25 employees. 

Who is this going to hurt?  Most small businesses who are struggling to keep their doors open during the current economic downturn.  And, it will have a devastating impact on our non-profit sector, many of who can least afford these new mandates.

There are roughly 1.7 million non-profit organizations in the United States.  Only a handful are as big as the United Way or American Red Cross, most are small community based groups who work hard to ensure that as much of the money they raise goes to advance the cause and not to administrative costs.  Forcing them to comply with the FMLA will only take away from their mission.   

The FMLA was enacted with good intentions: to help employees strike the right balance between their per­sonal lives and careers without being penalized. Unfortunately, it adds to the cost of employment, reduces the ability of employers and employees to make flexible workplace arrange­ments, and makes our non-profits and small businesses less competitive in the marketplace. Expanding the FMLA will have many unintended consequences that will hurt, not help, working families.

Government should avoid imposing costly mandates on our non-profits and small businesses, especially at a time when they can least afford it.

Instead, the Family Policy Center believes we can encourage a family friendly workplace by providing families with more flexible work arrangements by offering private sector employees the option to take time off in lieu of overtime pay, a unique perk that government employees have enjoyed for 30 years.

On another note, access to affordable health care is the number one issue for small business owners.  Congress and the Obama Administration are pushing for health care reform that will move the US health care system closer to that of Canada or the UK.  You can help stop a government takeover of health care from happening.  Send a message to the White House and Congress by signing the "Free Our Health Care Now" petition.  Go to http://www.freeourhealthcarenow.com/ and sign the petition today!     

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