Document Type

Article

Disciplines

International Law

Abstract

The concept of guaranteed leave from work for family needs and other personal duties has long been one of the basic assumed rights in most European countries. Indeed, for those member nations of the European Community,' compliance with Community law generally includes the enactment and enforcement by members of maternity leave statutes.2 In contrast, until 1993 the United States and South Africa were unique among industrialized countries as being the only such nations without a federal maternity or parental leave policy. 3 The passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 ("FMLA"),4 the first bill signed into law by President Bill Clinton, altered this status. The new law requires covered businesses to permit eligible employees up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave per year for the birth or adoption of a child, need to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, or parent, or inability to work caused by the employee's own serious illness. Part I of this Article will explain the basic provision of the FMLA. Part II examines work leave laws in European countries. Part III points out fundamental distinctions between European countries' political structures and that of the United States. Part IV outlines the positions expressed in support of and in opposition to passage of the FMLA. Finally, the Conclusion posits a rationale for the long-standing absence of statutory work leave policy at the federal level in the United States, and queries whether the FMLA is in fact aligned with traditional national policies as to the appropriate role of government in the American workplace.

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