Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:21:0
Tejinder Singh - AHN Correspondent
Washington, DC, United States (AHN) - U.S. President Barack Obama today signed into law (S. 1422) the Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act, amending "the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to make sure that flight attendants and pilots are able to qualify for FMLA benefits, just like other American workers." The announcement to this effect was made by the White House Press Secretary today saying, " The bipartisan legislation that the President signed today will help ensure that flight attendants, more than four-fifths of whom are women, and other flight crew members are able to take care of their families when the need arises."
"The Family and Medical Leave Act, which provides access to up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for events such as the birth or adoption of a child or to care for a family member with a serious health condition, has been a bulwark of our nation's employment laws for more than a decade," added the Secretary. The latest bill had passed the House of Representatives on December 3 by voice vote and passed the Senate on November 10 by unanimous consent.
U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chairman of the Senate HELP Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee and one of the architects of the bill had said in a statement on Dec 3, "This is a big victory for our nation's hard-working flight crews," adding, "Pilots and flight attendants deserve the same ability to balance work and family guaranteed to millions of Americans, and now they'll have it.
Flight crews spend many hours and days apart from their families and homes, and they deserve time off to care for themselves and their families. Today we have fixed an unintended and unfair exclusion to our country's medical leave laws."
The FMLA, which Murray helped pass in 1993 as one of her first acts as a U.S. Senator provides workers who have worked at least 1,250 hours or 60 percent of a full-time work schedule with unpaid leave due to a serious health condition or the need to care for a sick family member or a new child.
With the new law coming into force, it would make it possible for flight attendants and pilots to qualify for leave when they have fulfilled 60 percent of a full-time work schedule or their monthly guarantee at their airline.
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