House Votes Unpaid Leaves : 237-187 OK Not Enough to Halt Veto

The House voted today to require employers to give workers up to three months unpaid leave for family emergencies, ignoring a threatened veto and opponents who said the bill would help only “yuppie” workers who can afford to forgo paychecks.

The House voted 237 to 187 to approve the family and medical leave act and send it to the Senate.

The vote was a victory for its bipartisan supporters but well short of what would be needed to override a presidential veto.

Though the bill had the backing of the House Democratic leadership, 54 Democrats sided with business groups that opposed the bill. Thirty-nine Republicans supported the bill.

The bill is strongly opposed by the Bush Administration and faces a contentious and uncertain future in the Senate.

The Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee approved a similar bill more than a year ago, but sponsors have yet to schedule floor action. None was expected before Memorial Day.

The measure would require business and government employers to provide workers with up to 12 weeks of unpaid medical leave or leave for the care of a new child or ill child, parent or spouse.

It exempts businesses with fewer than 50 workers.

Employers would have to continue health insurance benefits for those on leave and restore a returning employee to his or her previous job or an equivalent position.

Opponents charged the bill would be costly and burdensome for businesses, ultimately hurting American competitiveness. But supporters said nearly all industrialized nations already provide such minimum job security to workers, many with provisions for full or partial pay.

Rep. Steve Bartlett (R-Tex.) denounced the bill as requiring employers to offer one benefit when workers might prefer another. He said unpaid leave would hardly help families struggling to make ends meet and would be a convenience only for the affluent.

“It is a yuppie bill,” Bartlett said. “It is a bill with yuppie benefits, in which only young upwardly mobile professional people can afford to take 12 weeks unpaid leave off. It is the $4- and $5-an-hour cafeteria worker who will be harmed by losing other benefits.”

Supporters contended workers, particularly women, suffer substantial earnings losses after the birth of a child or during illnesses because many can’t return to their jobs at the same pay.

“In a day and age when the majority of families need two paychecks just to keep their heads above water, it is inconceivable we do not have job security when a family emergency takes place,” said Rep. Marge Roukema of New Jersey, the chief Republican sponsor.

The bill also drew support from a Republican leader of the anti-abortion forces.

Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.) said the bill would encourage motherhood over abortion, and that no woman should have to “exterminate that child so she can keep her job.”

Business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, oppose the bill, saying it would be costly to employers and hurt productivity.