On Nov. 17, 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor published final regulations making numerous changes to its regulations which implement the Family and Medical Leave Act. These new regulations go into effect Jan. 16 — 60 days after publication. Employers throughout the state have anxiously been awaiting these regulations, hopeful that they will make implementation of the law easier.
It is not clear whether all of these changes would have been implemented in President-elect Obama’s administration. The FMLA has paralleled American presidential politics in an almost ironic way. In 1991, President George H.W. Bush vetoed the FMLA, stating that the bill would tie the hands of businesses. On Feb. 5, 1993, 10 days after he took office, President Clinton signed his first piece of legislation — the FMLA. Flashing forward to the present day, the new FMLA regulations, which in large part are pro-employer, will go into effect Friday — four days before President George W. Bush leaves office.
