Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Benefits to be given to Gay Workers

For many members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, workplace discrimination is just one of the many hurdles they face, they have also been denied ordinary benefits such as those of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) granted to heterosexual workers.

More than 2 decades have passed since the FMLA’s enactment and it is only recently that the Labor Department is making moves to give that homosexual employees equal treatment and benefits.

Under the FMLA, eligible workers are allowed to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid but job-protected leaves each year to take care of sick loved ones or themselves or time off to give birth or for adoptions. These benefits have all been given only to heterosexual couples even though LGBT couples people can legally adopt in all states except for Florida.

The Department of Labor is set to issue orders requiring businesses and employers to give family leaves to its eligible gay workers. There is no change in the law, but the orders are based on a new interpretation of it.

However, the order to provide FMLA benefits to LGBT employees can still be revoked by presidents after Obama. Also, legislative action is still required to give gay workers the full range of health care and other benefits.

Gay rights is a hotbed of political controversy. Many Federal laws have been blocked by conservative lawmakers because many feel that gays and lesbians do not deserve the same protection of labor and anti-discrimination laws afforded to other groups and minorities.

But President Barack Obama, whose campaign included many policies for the LGBT and equality for all, has slowly but surely changed the interpretation of the laws through executive orders to help gay and lesbians who are deprived under the law and abused by their employers because of their sexual orientation.

Here are some of the pertinent rights and benefits recently afforded to gay employees aside from the FMLA:

• Federal workers’ gay partners may now receive long-term health insurance, access to day care and other benefits
• Sexual orientation of applicants can no longer be considered for Federal Housing Authority loans
• Hospitals must allow gays to visit their sick partners
• Federal child-care subsidies can now be used by children of same-sex domestic partners

These rights and benefits, particularly those under the FMLA once an order has been issued, if violated can give rise to a labor violation. Consult with an employment attorney today for the appropriate remedy if you are a gay and lesbian employees whose rights are being violated.

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