On December 1, the Department of Labor officially asked for public input on the Family and Medical Leave Act. They will be collecting responses until February 2nd. The review could result in either the expansion or curbing of the parameters of the law, depending on what type of feedback is received.

The law, which went into effect in 1993, grants employees at companies with 50 or more workers 12 weeks of unpaid leave to deal with the birth or adoption of a child or a serious medical condition of their own or of a close family member.

Many court cases have come about since the law’s inception over interpretation of the definition of a serious illness, among other things.

It is unclear what changes will be made to the law. Some think the Democratic majority in Congress may call for modernizing the law so that it extends to more family members. Others think that cutbacks will be made.

Although the business community does not want to do away with the FMLA, they do want to have some clarification on points of the law so that it will be easier to administer.

FMLA costs to companies can be hard to determine. Unexpected absences usually have to be covered with temps or overtime help, but in a 2000 survey of companies affected by FMLA, 81% said the program had no effect on productivity and 93% said it did not affect company profits.

Many businesses are already more generous with paid leave than the FMLA dictates. A survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans found that 25% of organizations allow paid leave for the care of a domestic partner and 23% for a grandparent or sibling. Julie Stich, senior information specialist for the company, says that definitions of family are changing, and companies are taking care of people that they consider important.