Family Leave

I recently had open heart surgery at a young age, not because of my bad habits or even a hereditary illness. I always eat right and exercise regularly. I almost died due to a rare disease I had no control over. I have worked very hard for my employer. I have given them my all. During cardiac rehab, I did everything I could to get my physical strength and stamina back in order to return to work, excited about being productive again. What I didn't prepare for was the emotional kick in the pants after my illness. It is important, I believe, to ease back into the work and a heavy schedule, in order to rebuild confience and mental stamina, just like it is important to ease back into excercising weeks after surgery. My employer didn't see it that way. Technically they followed the law, but gave no support or encouragement, despite many favorable reviews in the past. Loyalty works both ways, and unless an employer understands that people, not machines, support the business and carry out the orders that bring success, an employer will lose the loyalty needed to succeed, and the business will never reach its full potential. Machines break down too. Some checks and balances may be desired, but a little bit of understading and compassion will go a lot further in keeping an employee loyal, not to mention driven to returning to being a productive member of your team. Without encouragement from your leaders, without that understanding, it may be the employer being FIRED by the employee, and the negativity left behind will spread worse than the disease that almost killed me.

Dear Mr. Trump,

I work at a job where mistakes can be costly. If I come to work having a bad cold or a headache, I try the easier tasks first to see if I can do the hard stuff. If not, I know I am really sick and go home.

Unlike some people, I have the luxury of being able to work from home on occasion. When I am sick, I do what I can.

Secondly, I have seen people come to work with a bad cold and within a couple of days...most of the office comes down with it. That affects productivity and profit.

Most people , I work with and have worked with are not like the Apprentice candidates that you interviewed these last 13 weeks in that they are ordinary people who do their jobs and take care of their families. They do the best job they can. I sometimes think that they are the real heros in life balancing children, parents and jobs.

A blanket statement such as yours only punishes these people who work as hard as they can for their employers. There will always be slackers who use the excuse of a cold or headache to take a day off. In any organization that I have worked in , they are the exception , not the rule.


Sincerely,

My job has that. We also get PTO which is Paid Time Off. This we can use for a day off, vacation time, sick time, doctor's appointments, whatever we need it for. I have seen this abused.

As for the medical and family leave, we do get paid for that while we're out if we have enough PTO

I understand your concern about abusing the time off. Employers need dependable employees. Work is actually a team effort.

I think companies do have to adopt then ensure they implement a system that is fair to employees. I recently started working for a company where they recognize that their associate's welfare is vital to its success. Without them, the job/mission doesn't get done. With that said, there are rules associates must follow when they are either late or sick. The orientation period (first 60 days) are tough because associates can only receive two occurences. When there are a few associates out at one time, it does make it difficult on the rest of the team, and they are the ones who have to pick-up the slack per se. They are forced to fill-in and are instructed to do their best. At the end of the day, we just want everyone to give us their best effort......rickyl

I agree that the family leave legislation needs to have narrower perimeters. Sometimes, the demands from family mean that, in order to be fair to the employer, an employee should simply resign and look for other income alternatives until that employee is able to bring more to the table than simply not being there.

Dear Mr. Trump,
I just wanted to tell u i think the world of you. And i have been watching your show Apprentice for quite some time now and i admire all u have to say i learn alot from you.

even though i am only 16 years old i am hoping i am going to be on you show to be come your apprentice, but we will see.

well i will keep in touch i guess,

Mr. Trump

There is no doubt that the FMLA is an important tool for the American employee. It gives time for a family to address serious issues or changes in their lives whether it be positive or negative change.
The last time I took a day off of work I was in a car accident, that was it. But we can't expect everyone to have the same work ethic as you and myself.

Mr. Trump,

with your permission, family*s crisis happend as long we have childrens parents, are crisis*es as part of life generaly spoken,
and as long we are part of company*s we work for and government,
where the taxes are payed, well, to deal with and maintain the right balance generally spoken is fine art.
Are people with good resistance facing the crisis, as are different governments which care about that aspect of family leave for 12 weeks!!

Are different people in the world and different governments, but we live into a globaly interconnectedness wich from big to small position may affect a whole chain we are part of, isn*t?

For example the economy pulse in a special area may present the symptomes of * people of K dolares * (in Europe is known as *people of thousand euro*) is a large effect no matter the education that people may have and it happend generally spoken in country*s with good stable economy, how other may we explain the subprime loans with so big effect in New Jersey f.e. but when it start in one part, will surface the whole picture which really I hope is not a too large one.

What may be the connection between the people well being and the wealth of a country a real one without affected by inflation generally spoken, which also is contagious globally spoken as waterflow effect?

And what is the connection between health generally spoken from small scale at a large one? or from large scale to small one? the basement.

as family cell is the basement of a society nucleo with his values.
as health from small at large scale as feedback which we may see in the Kyoto warning protocol in place but very difficult to implement it globally to act as a drop of health in that global process we live as climat change and which ffect the health of people in once too from all the aspects, from the foods(reserves? interesting that the water scarcity we pay people to did*t produce more in order to make economy of water resources for use of the people but the spillways to colect water are considered as crime...water is a mistery and no way to produce it artificially, at least to care his circuit in the nature, the natural one...hmm) so ...employment balance generally spoken as Social Security difficult to sustain it generally spoken...

Is frustrating to wrotte now from a computer which even the memory sticker did*t permitt me to open it, the point is, that the common denominator of all this global aspects is development the faire one applyed on the structure build as concept and accord and even financing aspects by the Kyoto accord, by the green way to build, by a soft touch of tax land to permit that buyilding as development we joint the new workplaces, the new homes a bit moore moore green as landscaping where we touch it as new brand named Blue Diamond concept...and create more money as Trade Exchange investments at large scale with..Mr. Trump, as much resources I have now to create more value, the creativity is intact, but the right Team and experience to
brainstorm the right manner to pack such a stuffy new brand, what can we do for? Please?! and we start with family as applying the concept in a veery veery sensitief and dear location to my heart: Jerusalem,
treated as exposed to disaster area, is our brand!!! healing the war with development, a huge one as never before as SUMMIT of funds interests and LOVE, is somebody which from century*s gived his example of LOVE and sacrifice for us, all, Jesus, we must just give the opportunity that people came there to heal the soul without fear of a too long lasting war, isn*t? i must go now,
thank you in advance, for tt
Daniela

When I was working for this Company ... I had found out my Step-father who raised me was dying of Cancer, After they had taken him to hospice. I had called my Boss at the time to tell her what was going on ... she wouldn't let me take any time off to be with my Step-Father .. I was working the night shift at the time ...and while I was at work he passed away ...you can amagine how angry and Hurt I was not being able to be with him when he passed .... That is why I think we should be able to be with Sick family members...

You are right Mr. Trump. People will abuse their time off if a company allows the employees to be frivolous with sick leave and personal issues. It is the employers responsibility to hire and retain responsible employees so this issue will always fall back on the strength of the character of the company and the people they hire.

I myself am taking the week off from my company to plant my garden so when it is slow this summer I will have fresh vegetables to eat. Of course I work for myself but I often have to work on weekends and holidays so I can do as I please, when I please unless I have scheduled myself to work.

If I worked for a company I would not have the choices I have, which was one of the choices I made. I feel in a society which goes to so much effort to save a child in a womb should allow the parents time to be with their children. No company would want an employee who would turn their back on a sick parent or destroy their own body for the company. Not every effort in life makes you a martyr, some just mean you are cold hearted or to insecure to stand up for yourself.

It all comes down to a company training an employee to live a balanced work life through time management and skills to set priorities and complete projects. That takes skills and skills take training. A good employee will use these skills at home and in life which will add efficiency to their life making them one of the best tools in the tool box....

They say soil has an ingredient which reacts with the body to bring it calm and happiness, I find my time planting vegetables is when I get my best ideas and wildest dreams. My time in the soil has taught me how to plan ahead, time my efforts, trust what I can not see and harvest my rewards.

This year I am planting Roses. I am planting all the hues of the relationship so I will never be late for a date and I will always be greeted at the door with a smile. I came up with this idea while I had my hands in soil.

Donald, I find this interesting. I'm all for a leave of absence, if necessary, during a family crisis.
However, I'm not really for an employer paid leave. At least not mandatory. Not every employer can afford this. An available insurance policy for such a situation would be more feasible. Especially if abuse cases are noted and legitimate.
I had a situation like this happen to be back in 4/84 I think it was 84. Yeah it was. My father was dieing of cancer in another state and I wanted to be there for his last days on the earth. To see what I could do to help him do things HIS way. I was gone for 5 weeks without pay and no savings. It was not easy. I had very little support. My Mom helped a bit. But it was either get a leave or quit. I didn't tell them I'd quit but I would have. My father was more important than my job or my life at that time. He was terminal. He was a GREAT father. NOT perfect, but great. We knew he loved us (HIS kids and my Mother). He showed us and I wanted to see what I could do for HIM. It wasn't easy. I had no money and my X-husband ( NOW) , who wasn't then, wasn't working, decided he didn't want to go with me and when I talked to him on the phone from my parents house, told me he wanted too start drinking again. Just a little bit and not because of my father dieing. He didn't want to watch my father die. He told me that.
Note: Whose interest was here?
By the way, I'm glad I'm NO LONGER married to him. REALLY glad. He was a hindrence in my life not a help. He eventually showed up for the funeral. Do I sound angry? I don't mean to. I really don't. I'm just glad I'm rid of him. Once and for all. I tried anbd tried and I won't go into any more. It's not the place and nobodies business. He was abusive in many ways and now I'm free by choice. My choice. A year in June. Finally. I don't want him back.
Stuff like that effects your performance on the job.
Anyway, **** happens in your life. It's nice to have the option of taking time off in situations like that. If it's employer paid, great. If not, so be it. Mine wasn't that I remembered. I think I used whatever sick time I had left. I needed that time because there were other things that caved in on me during that period as well. Major issues that I won't go into. Like I said, **** happens and we need to see the way out and GO for it. Not just anyway. The way. What we know is right. No matter the cost. To be free. Sometimes we just need to GO and not care what others think or others will continually find reasons why we can't. Whose life is it anyway? I had to make a choice as I had to now. No matter what. (even a choice in writting this or not) I know where I'm suppose to be and with whom and I'm going all the way. As far as I can. There's "NO DEAL" it's been set. Spiritually speaking as well. I'm not sure why I said all this except, don't get locked in. Neither employee nor employer. It's YOUR life. Live it.
An employer needs to be in control of HIS company NOT the employees, the family or the government. GOT IT! Put your priorities in motion. Not just what YOU want. There are responsibilities when you know where you should be and what you should be doing and then and only then are you in the right place. Doing the right thing. Employers actually only owe you the basics. The rest are gracious benefits. Case closed.

Jerilynn

By the way.......
That's Jerilynn Quall

I believe that anyone who has a serious illness to deal with is still part of the team, and other members pick up the slack while they are gone. It is called "no man left behind" in military jargon.

As a former manager, creative director, owner of a design firm and a former member of the military establishment I have found it very difficult to find people under 40 who really understand what a committment is to a team environment. The "all about me" mentality is extremely prevalent in today's corporate environment. But on the other side of the spectrum you have companies that think you should live your life around their culture, at their convenience, and be paid in rupee's or the yuan. And they want loyalty?

I am not saying that someone who is always taking time off during working hours to attend their kids soccer games is the person you want on the team. But a person doesn't wake up in the morning asking God to give him, or her, a heart attack to get a vacation.

The successful business person today will need to walk a fine line with his partners, colleagues and employee's regarding these issues, and realize that time off to address serious matters, or illness, creates a better team, a better person, and a better company.

I have been privy during my career to be part of many board room meeting's, and I can assure you that in most cases senior level management, at least in the organizations that I have been part of, have always been sensitive to the serious needs of their employee's if they wanted a successful company.

If my company can carry someone, and they truly require the time off , then you are damn right we will take care of them, and help them as long as we can.

This may be a generational thing, but it seems we have a lot more crises today than we did in the past. When I was younger we used to just call it LIFE!

That said, if we had some common sense on both sides, this would not be an issue. If someone is doing a good job, giving them some slack is appropriate just from the humanitarian view point when health or other major issues arrise. Employees indeed ARE people, not machines. However, in our current climate, many see this government imposed family leave as a right and don't always appreciate the disruption their absense causes to their employer and co-workers.

I guess the abuse of the family leave would be found more in the instances where the worker just sees the job as a paycheck and does not see himmself as making a contribution to something constructive.

So maybe it would be to the benefit of the company and majority of employees to weed those workers out before problems occurr.

Thank goodness my older brother made big money and was able to retire at the age of 45. He has been the saving grace of the family and my elderly mother. If employers want to be tough about FMLA, hey, no problem. Just remember that one day you are going to be old and will need your children to help you. If he/she cannot take time off or does not have a boss who understands, I wish you the best of luck!

In a corporate world where attrition is the key word, having one person do the job of 5, sometimes someone needs a day off. You worry about productivity yet how productive is a person who doesn’t feel well? What is worse they tend to spread that negative feeling around the office, decreasing total productivity. Many times if they are given some time to re-group they come back feeling refreshed and able to work. Now will 1-5% of employees abuse this? Yeah probably, but the overall morale of the work force should make up for that. Don’t they already any way? I support what Ted Kennedy is introducing into congress there should be at least 7 paid sick days for all workers. By doing this you are looking at the big picture of the employee relationship you are saying that you appreciate the people who work hard building your company and that you trust them to know when they need a break for the overall betterment of the company. Being a master of investment in dirt, big business needs to make an investment in people.

In Canada, where I live, there is a 1 year paid maternity leave for the mother or the father. I agree with that 100%.

The rest of the medical leave can be abused, and in this country of socialism...it happens all the time.

Come and see me at Book Expo America at the Javits Centre on June 1,2,3 2007.............BOOTH 1802

My new bio:

WORKING CLASS ENGINEER - FROM MISFIT TO MILLIONAIRE

Inspirational, Motivating.............the tough way to the top. approx 300 pgs.

Will be a BEST SELLER!

MIchael J. Mark, P.Eng., BSc EE

www.m2engineering.com

Hi Mr.Trump...

This is a very delicate issue...This depends on how many employees there are present...We are living in dangerous and scary times...for intstance if someone close to you is in the military and they have serious mental and or any physical imbalance...How does any employer expect this individual to operate with full cooperation...
Not to mention other terrible illnesses and or other health related issues, that may unexpectedly arise...We can not pIay or even try to play God....I feel there has to be some balance, and understanding between, money and health...I may be wrong, however that is my personal and experienced oppinion..
Take Care and I still like Frank (The Bronx).. on The Apprentice...

Sincerely & Warm Regards,
Kim Liebskind

Perhaps if American companies gave larger paid vacations as in Europe, stress levels in general would go down (less sickness) and since it would be planned ,projects could be more efficently engaged with proper management of timelines. The real culprit is the 90 day micromanagement created by quarterly pass fail that is the American Stock Market driven stick..

Mr Trump, if the statistic is true that 30% of all people will leave their job due to bad management, then I have to assume that most those people would consider exercising the Family and Medical Leave Act. Or, at least, their co-workers who stay will. Or, those who want another job will. And those who want to enjoy their family, birth of a new child, etc. will.

Also, there is the concept that most people value their time off. Most people view themselves as having a higher quality of life with more time off, in addition to income. So, if they could have 4 days a week at work and 3 off, instead of 5 at work and 2 off, that may prevent a lot of people from taking advantage of the Family and Medical Leave Act. A lot of people feel a great deal of gratitude when their incomes are not compromised, but they get to work 40 hours in 4 days, instead of 5. I think sometimes companies are too old school and they don't adapt to the simple needs of their people and ultimately pay the price.

I too stress concern that many employees are actually taking advantage of this situation. I see it a lot here in Texas. I am a 23 year-old senior here at the University of Texas at Austin, and have been working for over seven years now with a hotel corporation, since I was 16. I have seen many co-workers care less if there absence affects their fellow team-members I actually believe that many don't even realize that they are part of a team. Some don't feel appreciated by their employers so they could care less what happens in their absence.

I too believe that there needs to be a check and balance and if an employee is taking advantage of a sick leave, then termination is inevitable. However then all these law-suits get in the way and it can get ugly. I respect and have enjoyed working for my same employer for over seven years now. In the hotel business, as you know, we have to jump behind the front desk or into the restaurant if necessary when another department is short-staffed. A business suffers when one is absent, and their needs to be a cap on how much one can take off. Again I stress though, that if one is fully appreciated by their employer, this time-off debate is not an issue! I hate having to call in and have only done so three times in seven years. It has hurt me every time when I make that call, because I know that my team will be affected. On two of those three times however, I have called a co-worker to fill in for my spot and so I know that at least there is another head there in my place.

On another note I wanted to thank you for your invitation to the Mexican Pop Group RBD, to perform at your Miss Universe event. Mexico is really speaking highly of you, as is the Mexican-American community here in Texas. I also wanted to say that I really enjoyed the Apprentice Finale this past Sunday. I was actually in attendance to both the taping and get-together afterwards; it was an honor to be in your presence.

I agree..Mr. Trump.

When I read this thought, then I remember to one thing. Actually, there is nothing wrong to do our prayers in our daily life. In fact, I saw many people manipulate time prayer to do something else.
Several times, I saw in factory or office, some people leave their work and they said to their colleagues that they want to do prayer. The question : Is it necessary to do praying from 3 PM until 4.15 PM during work hours? Then how about their responsibility to accomplish their job? They say that they want their friends to accomplish it for them. Then when I asked their friends, it said that they also busy with their own job. Apparently, these people set different priorities with others. Their priorities are prayer then do their job. Is it right?
I set priorities like this : do our own job first then pray, ask our God to bless our effort to bring the result.
So, in my area, most people have challenge such i said in above. I am not ban them to do prayer, but I hope they do their job then pray.
And this is the main reason in my area, that some people hate with other people who have different faith.
The reason such as taking care parents or baby deliverance or cancer check up - are acceptable reasons. When it come to religion activities, then complex understanding appear amongst us. That's why, to do the job in my area is very slow because we must careful with furious of some people. I hope this input can be as consideration for bloggers. Thank you!

Hello everyone,
I work for a Japanese company and a few years ago when my wife was going though some medical issues I was able to use the FMLA to my advantage but I feel I didn't abuse it like some other people I know who work there too. The difference between working for a Japanese company is that we are paid salary + OT. So when I was off I still received my 40 hour paycheck. Which was a good thing because if I didn't get that then we would have lost everything that we had been working for. You see she was off work for a long time and I was off my self for a total of 20 weeks over a 2 year time frame. That may not sound like much but when you're talking only one income and not being paid for any of that time you can just imagine how stressful that could become.
I know that there are people out there that use the system the right way and others who abuse it but I'm very appreciative of that being there when it was. I've been employed there for 7 1/2 yrs and the first five I worked a lot of OT, usually 60-65/wk average for that time frame... but now I only work 40 due to the economy in our automotive field.

I was fired because because I had Breast Cancer. I had a Major Mastectomy on the right side, 2 weeks later I began Chemo treatments, every 3 weeks for 24 weeks. It was a dreadful experience, with the side affects, losing all my hair, It was difficult to stay positive. However, I am blessed with a wonderful family and friends. With their support and prayers, I was able to maintain a positive outlook. I just wanted to be done with it all and get my life back to normal. Little did I know, my life would not be the same. My Oncologist released me to work in August of 2006, My employer refused the the return and requested more documentation from the surgeon. After they received the release from my surgeon, they stated, they also needed a release from my primay physician. In deed, I provided the document, afterwards, they stated: "As soon as a position is available you will return to work". It was prolonged, exceeding the 52 weeks Medical Leave and they fired me.

Abusing a work place system works both ways. Managers have at times refused family leave for some employees because they are not liked, even though the employee is hard working and loyal to the team.

I have seen managers turn their backs on employees who have done more than their fair share, in terms of working late hours to help out their employer, or covering for other team members.

Some managers will target a hard working employee and palm tasks the manager does not want to do, upon a subordinate who rarely complains.

Employers often are willing to finance studies of employee's work efficiency, efficacy, productivity or performance. Yet there are no studies done on the efficiency, efficacy, productivity or performance of managers.

The selection of employees within a Department for promotion into management, or the hiring of people into management positions from outside the Department, never seem to take into account the psychology of the manager-to-be, or the motivations as to why a person wants to become a manager.

I have often seen people who are deep down bullies, or with neurotic to marginal psychotic symptoms become managers because they yearn to have control over other people. Most small companies tend to be unable or unwilling to filter out these people from management positions. Once they become managers it is near to impossible to fire them, due to their strength of will in maintaining their position.

Managers like these will target an employee who is quiet and hard working because they are seen to be weak, and will abuse the employee's right for family leave by making an excuse as to why they cannot take the time off, or threatening to fire an employee who insists they need to take the time off for family reasons. The expectation is just because the employee has never or rarely has taken time off in the past, they are somehow indispensable and cannot be spared when they do need the time off.

As for employees who abuse the system, senior management needs to look into the psychology of their workplace and determine if the increase in absenteeism, may be due to a manager abusing his/her employees in subtle ways. There have been studies in which psychotic managers will push their employees harder and create extra work because they enjoy watching their employees work long hours and sweating it out to meet a tight deadline; even when such a tight deadline is not justified.

Then there are managers who are poor planners, and God only knows how they ever got appointed to or promoted into a management or supervisory role. I have been privy to situations in which a manager or supervisor deliberately rail roaded employees to do a job in a clearly inefficient way, or to do the job in such a way that if the person needing the task done changed their minds as to the outcome, the employee would have to restart again from scratch. Granted it is not always possible to do the job in a more flexible way, but where it is able to be done in a more flexible fashion, these managers/supervisors did not care about the opinion of the employee(s).

Every time people talk about employees abusing a workplace leave arrangement, I often ask "what is the quality of the leadership of the management?" Upon closer scrutiny you find that to a certain management is to blame because they either fail to provide the proper leadership, or they abuse their employees to the point where the employees lose the motivation to support their employer.

Add all of the above to other expectations of some managers who simply see their role as delegating tasks and not monitoring the situation with their employees. And some of these managers are so insecure that they fail to encourage the initiative of their employees and discourage them from being involved in the decision making process, as to how they should carry out their tasks because they assume the employee is after their job.

Look after your employees and they'll look after you.

I agree 100%, Mr. Trump. I'm only 14, but even I know the importance of working whenever you have the chance. If you just have a measly cold, take some tissues and Germ-X with you to work. If you have a headache, take some aspirin with you. If you're throwing up, keep a trash can close to your place of working (I said this because sometimes you don't have a desk.). If everyone decided to not go to work when they feel a little sick, every business in the world would go bankrupt.

Temptasion, we all want to win at something , and people feel that it s nothing wrong with cheating a little bit to win . Because it makes them feel , hey I'm ahead . Businesses has done that for years , so in the long run are they ahead . It has to be an understanding , and no one is looking for the unjust due . That way the business servive and the poeple go home... Beloved

Donald,
You know you could take the heading of this article another way. Have you ever had your family turn on you? I mean really turn on you to the point of trying to make you do things their way and not yours? Or misplaced loyalties with your enemy (s)? As if for some reawson they had a right. They don't! Period. After reading and posting my comment it sort of dawned on me......HHHMMmmnnn

FAMILY LEAVE

HHHMMmmmnnn

FAMILY ---------------> LEAVE!

Sounds good to me. Who's life is it anyway? Theirs? Or yours?

HHHMMMmmnnnn family leave

family leave family leave family leave FAMILY LEAVE!


Why do families think they have a right to manipulate members into doing things one way. The way that makes them happy. Now fathers and mothers have certain rights over children but must realize not as much when they become adults. Then who defines adult? Age? Definitely not! Education? No! A sense of unselfish right and wrong? "YES". Some never make it and suffer for the rest of their life.
Some permanently lose the member of the family they want to control.
I hope you don't mind my little detour here. The heading is outstanding

Jerilynn

Thank you Donald.

What's Happening...

Even though it's not a half-day or anything,

Happy Administrative Professionals Day!

No sleep till Chotchkie's!
Bill Benway

http://www.sexgunsandmotorcycles.com

Germany's government pays up to three years for maternity leave.

Well, Donald, I think you are a bright guy, for sure. But you know as well as I that top down management is a burden to all. More Federal involvement allways creates more paper work and not necessarily higher productivity. Personally, if the employee is Union there is not much you can do to improve productivity and if you own the company and there are abuses there are ways to take care of the problem with greater efficiency that calling in the federal government. Yes!

Maria on Maui.

The way the law works is that the employee is guaranteed to have a position. If the company cannot maintain his/her position for the length of time the person needs off, the company has to only try to place the person in a similar position when they return. The employer is not required to keep open the persons particular job for the time off, although most companies try to do that if possible. Secondly, nobody is paid for 12 weeks off. The Family Medical Leave Act did not mandate that any part of the leave be paid time off. The employee only gets paid for whatever days he/she has available, combined vacation, personal and sick days. The act was enacted because employers were not being fair or reasonable to their employees. Remember that NY as are many other states are "employment at will" employers which means they can terminate anyone, anytime, for any reason. Unless the employee has an employment contract, they do not have any job security beyond what an employer wishes to grant them. I don't think there is a big problem with people taking extended leaves for non valid reasons, because if they want to utilize the FMLA, they usually have to provide some documentation to justify that.

Perhaps, the solution for this situation is to have home-based business.

It's absolute legal slavery to be overworked and underpaid.

It's ridiculous to be paid 1/10 of your value -- making your boss rich -- that's complete non-sense.

Napoleon Hill, author of 'Think and Grow Rich', said "Neglecting to broaden their view has kept some people doing one thing all their lives."

No wonder why people settle for J.O.B.s...

Make it a great day.

- Denmark Francisco
http://www.GenY-Entrepreneur

It is always a delicate balance weighing the needs of the employer against the needs of the employee. Many countries have more generous policies than ours providing 6-12 months for the employee. I think family is important, but I think family can come first without a major interruption for the business. For the first few years of my children's lives, I did daycare so I could stay home with them. When my children were older, I worked the opposite shift of my husband to raise our children without regular day care. I think if you hire conscientious ethical people, they won't abuse attendance or any other benefits.

Of course, emergencies and major illness are not planned, and even the best employees may have to use these benefits. The key word here is use rather than abuse.