National Partnership for Women & Families

The National Partnership for Women & Families is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that uses public education and advocacy to promote fairness in the workplace, quality health care, and policies that help women and men meet the dual demands of work and family. The National Partnership wrote the first draft of the Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and led the nine-year fight for its passage. The bill was finally signed into law by President Bill Clinton on February 5, 1993.

Since it was enacted, the Family and Medical Leave Act has helped 50 million Americans take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to care for their new babies and sick family members, and to recover from their own serious illnesses, without hurting businesses. Yet too many women and men simply cannot afford to take unpaid leave, even when their families need them most. More than three in four employees (78 percent) who need family and medical leave, do not take it. And almost one in ten of employees who report taking leave without pay say they were forced to go on public assistance while on leave.

The National Partnership's Campaign for Family Leave Benefits is a multi-year initiative to make family and medical leave more affordable for all working Americans. The organization is currently working with a variety of individuals - state and federal policy makers; human resource professionals; advocates for women and families; representatives from businesses and labor organizations; and researchers in employment benefits, labor and family care giving, among others - to develop Family Leave Benefits (FLB). FLB describes a variety of ways to help people afford time off when a baby is born or adopted, when a close relative is seriously ill, or when workers themselves need medical care. To find out more, visit www.nationalpartnership.org.