Free Republic

WASHINGTON - Patti Phillips didn't have to choose between work and family when her 12-year-old daughter was diagnosed with bone cancer. Her employer gave her time off as needed under the Family and Medical Leave Act to care for Stephanie while Phillips brought home a paycheck and the health insurance that came with her inventory-control job with a Georgia soft-drink company. Off and on until Stephanie's death earlier this year at age 18, family leave proved to be "a godsend right to the end," Phillips said. She also praises her bosses for understanding how important it is for workers "to...

<p>CARMEL, Ind. -- As 90,000 to 120,000 National Guard and Reserve troops, including about 4,200 Hoosiers, prepare to come home from Iraq, Pentagon officials are looking into ways to shield them from repeated calls to duty in the future.</p> <p>The key: rebalancing missions between active and reserve components of the U.S. military.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) - On the Family and Medical Leave Act's 10th anniversary, Sen. Christopher Dodd called for expanding the landmark law that gives workers at larger companies time off to care for a new baby or sick family member. The law, enacted Feb. 5, 1993, guarantees workers at companies with 50 or more employees 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in times of family emergency, including the birth or adoption of a child and serious illness of a spouse, child or parent. Over the past decade, the law "has provided valuable job protections for millions of workers," Labor Secretary Elaine...