Congress OKs Unpaid Leaves for Birth, Illness

Defying a White House veto threat, the Senate gave final congressional approval Thursday to landmark legislation that would require large companies and governments to grant unpaid family or medical leave to their employees.

The Senate adopted by voice vote a House-passed compromise bill that would allow workers to take time off to care for newborn babies or seriously ill parents or to recover from sickness themselves.

The measure, long sought by women’s organizations and labor unions but opposed strongly by business groups, was sent to President Bush. White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu already has promised business lobbyists that the President would veto the bill.

An election year veto, however, could diminish Bush’s popularity among working families in view of his campaign promises of a “kinder, gentler nation” that would not deprive women of their jobs if they had to take time off from work to have a baby or care for a sick child.

“It’s time to see whether this is rhetoric alone,” said Senate Democratic Leader George J. Mitchell of Maine.

The bill had passed by a margin of 237 to 187 in the House, well short of the two-thirds majority required to override a veto. Republican supporters of the legislation, however, said they would appeal to the President to sign it.

The Senate’s swift action came as a surprise because GOP opponents had threatened to filibuster against the controversial bill. They ultimately decided to let it go through without even a roll call vote.

“We have a consensus on a bill that I thought would be debated for days,” said Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chief sponsor of the legislation. Dodd appealed to Bush to take a close look at the bill in hopes that the President would not exercise a veto that Congress could not override.

Senate sources said opponents of the measure did not want to go on record against the family leave bill in an election year when some would have to explain their stand to their constituents.

The measure would require firms with 50 or more workers, as well as state and local governments, to grant employees as much as 12 weeks of unpaid leave for specified family or medical reasons without losing any health insurance coverage during their absences. Federal employees would be entitled to longer leave periods under the bill.

Employers would be required to guarantee the jobs of workers who take the unpaid leave.

Advocates said the legislation is the first breakthrough in government recognition of the vast increase in the number of two-earner families and mothers of small children in the labor force.

Opponents, however, contended that the bill would increase costs to employers and set a bad precedent for government intervention in setting job conditions that might reduce other employee benefits.

“Anytime we mandate anything, it’s bad public policy,” Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) said.

“We’ve lost,” said Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), another opponent.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) recalled during the debate that he took a great deal of time away from the Senate when his son, Teddy, was hospitalized with cancer in 1973.

“As a senator, I was able to take time off from work to care for my child,” Kennedy said. “Millions of Americans are not so lucky. No working Americans should be denied the opportunity to fulfill their basic obligations as parents.”

Proponents of the bill relied on government figures showing that nearly three-fourths of married women with school-age children are working, and more than half of all mothers with preschool children are in the labor force.

To get the legislation through the House--and through the Senate without an all-out battle--the sponsors modified it considerably. Instead of affecting firms with 20 or more workers, the revised version would apply only to companies with 50 or more workers. That would reduce the impact to just 5% of all employers from 12% under the original legislation.

Employees would be required to have at least one year with their company to qualify for leave and would have to work at least 1,000 hours a year to qualify. Leave would be allowed for childbirth, adoption and serious illness of a child, a parent, a spouse or the employee.

Employers would not be required to provide the leave to “key employees,” defined as the highest-paid 10% of a company’s work force. Special rules would be enforced for school employees to minimize disruption of classes.

A doctor’s certification would be required to justify leaves in cases of serious illness.

Judith Lichtman, chairman of a coalition of organizations supporting the bill, said that she is “thrilled” by the outcome.

“We are particularly pleased that the vote came just days before Father’s Day--truly wonderful timing, especially since the House voted right before Mother’s Day,” she said. “Now the focus is on President Bush, and we are by no means convinced that he will veto this bill,” she said.