WASHINGTON, D.C., June 23, 2005-Testifying this morning before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee roundtable, NAM member Patrick S. Lancaster, Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer & Secretary of American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM) urged “at a minimum” revision of the Family and Medical Leave Act to allow employees and the FMLA to work as intended. Sandy Boyd, NAM Vice President of Human Resources Policy, also testified at the roundtable.
Underscoring that AAM, which employs approximately 9,000 associates in the U.S., is and has been faced with rising domestic production costs in the globally competitive automotive industry, Lancaster noted that, “One of AAM's domestic cost drivers is the significant increase in unscheduled absences allowed by the FMLA. FMLA abuses are caused in large part by the lack of effective guidelines regarding the definition of a ‘serious health condition,’ and the intermittent leave provisions.
“The threshold definition of a ‘serious health condition’ as interpreted through the Department of Labor is so low that AAM estimates that at any time, at least 1/3 of all AAM associates could successfully obtain medical certification from a provider for an intermittent FMLA leave,” said Lancaster. “As a result, FMLA leave has become the single largest ‘loop-hole’ for abuse of unscheduled absenteeism.”
The National Association of Manufacturers supports DOL regulatory efforts to revise the FMLA implementing regulations, particularly with respect to notice requirements, defining serious health conditions and the use of intermittent leave.