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Don’t let them weaken your family’s ability to care for each other!

In 1988, Tommy Thompson became one of the first governors in the country to sign a state Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) into law. Five years later, Congress passed a federal FMLA.

FMLA allows an employee who meets certain criteria to take unpaid time off if they become ill, have a child, or need to care for a sick loved one. Unfortunately, the federal FMLA just doesn’t live up to Wisconsin standards.

Wisconsin’s current Family Medical Leave Act is stronger than the federal law, but it still restricts half the workforce from accessing job-protected time off. And because it’s unpaid, many people are unable to take time off to care for a loved one or recover from illness.

Part of boosting the economy is protecting the jobs we do have. Nobody should lose their job because they have cancer or their parent has Alzheimer’s.

In addition to protecting the higher standards of care that we have valued for 25 years, Wisconsin should expand family leave (like other states have) into a Family Leave Insurance Program.

“Wisconsin’s higher standards for FMLA allowed our family, and not my employer, to decide how it was best for us to transition back to working full-time after having a baby. It made me a more loyal employee and made me want to be more productive when I returned to work. I’ve worked for companies in other states without that support, and it left me burnt out and unproductive.” -Mandy M (picture above, with her family)

Sign the petition to let legislators know that we want to see Wisconsin’s FMLA expanded, not cut!

Walker’s predicted “Special Jobs Session” is looming. We need to get ahead of the issue of Family Leave in order to prevent the state administration from GUTTING our law. We need to EXPAND family job protections, not CHIP AWAY at them.

If you’ve used Wisconsin’s FMLA, please share your experience, whether it was caring for an elderly parent, recovering from illness, or welcoming an addition to your family.

Not sure if you have a story? Here are some ideas for the stories we need:

• Wisconsinites who were able to substitute their paid time for unpaid WI FMLA.

• People who were only eligible for FMLA because of WI’s law (worked 20-25 hours).

• Any businesses (over 50 employees) that practice the current law in good faith.

• People who’ve NEEDED and NOT BEEN ABLE TO TAKE FMLA – compelling stories showing a variety of reasons including not being covered because they worked for a company smaller than 50 employees, not on the job 12 months yet, working under 25 hours a week, couldn’t afford unpaid leave, or had a loved one who didn’t count as a family member under definition of law.

• Businesses that would like to have the paid leave program in place.

• People who’ve BENEFITTED from FMLA – compelling stories showing diversity of reasons for use as well as diversity among people who’ve used it including a father who used it for a new baby, someone who used it for a spouse or elderly parent, a LGBT non-biological parent who used it to care for a newborn, a woman able to breast-feed longer because she was able to take a full 12 weeks off work, someone with a very ill child.