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Laws Mandating Domestic-Violence Leave Gaining Support
Florida became the sixth state to provide additional leave for victims of domestic violence. Although there are some questions about the law's requirements, one expert says the legislation falls within the framework of the Family and Medical Leave Act.
There are still unanswered questions surrounding a new domestic-violence leave law enacted in Florida and its possible impact on employers. The law, which took effect in the state on July 1, requires employers with 50 or more employees to permit workers to request and take up to three days of leave in any 12-month period if they, or their family or household members, are the victims of domestic violence. The statute does not, however, mandate that the leave be paid; it leaves that choice up to the employer. Florida becomes the sixth state to provide additional leave for victims of domestic violence. The others are Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine and North Carolina. According to Florida's law, leave may be taken if the employee is: * Seeking an injunction for protection against domestic violence or for protection in cases of repeated violence or sexual violence; * Obtaining medical care or mental-health counseling, or both, for the employee or family or household member to address physical or psychological injuries resulting from the act of domestic violence; * Making the employee's home secure from the perpetrator of the domestic violence or seeking new, presumably safer housing; or * Seeking legal assistance to address issues arising from the domestic violence and to attend and prepare for court-related proceedings arising from the domestic violence. The law does not stipulate whether it applies only to employers with 50 or more employees in Florida, or employers with 50 or more employees nationwide as long as some of the employees work in Florida. "We're telling our clients that if they have 50 employees anywhere, they'd best assume their Florida employees are covered by this," says Wendy J. Smith, an attorney with Fisher & Phillips, a Tampa-based employment-law firm. It's also nebulous, she says, "whether the law is intended to cover someone outside the home, like a stalking boyfriend, or just someone living under your roof." The bill leaves "far too much to speculation," says Smith, who adds that it "moved through Florida's legislature much too quickly and stealthily." "I never saw the government work so fast," she adds. Proponents, on the other hand, hail the bill as a needed step forward in the quest toward protecting women and children. "This law clearly is a step forward for victims of domestic violence," says Jay Christiansen, the director of programs for the Shelter for Abused Women and Children in Naples, Fla. "It creates a framework for how businesses should respond to domestic violence, as well as providing Florida's nearly 120,000 annual victims of intimate partner abuse a few days of needed time to address the safety, legal and medical issues they face as they try to rebuild their lives free from abuse," he says. Paul M. Secunda, an assistant professor of law at the University of Mississippi School of Law, writes on the Workplace Prof Blog that he considers the new statute "a worthwhile amendment to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, since it fits nicely into the overall FMLA framework. Specifically, it requires that before receiving the leave, the employee must first exhaust all annual leave, including vacation, personal and sick leave, unless the employer waives that requirement. It also states that, except in cases of imminent danger, the employee must provide the employer with "appropriate" advance notice and sufficient documentation of domestic violence. Because human resource professionals are "already dealing with these kinds of situations under the FMLA, the impact on HR is not going to be dramatic," says attorney Patrick M. Muldowney, a partner with Baker Hostetler in Orlando, Fla., and president-elect of the Central Florida Human Resource Association.
"Granted, there will be a slight increase in administrative burden," he adds, "but that said, our organization sees this law as an essential benefit to allow these people time off to deal with domestic-violence-related activities. We see it as an additional piece in the leave picture, which already includes many types of leave; we do not see it as an onerous piece of legislation."
According to Muldowney, many companies "already go out of their ways to help people in these circumstances." As a result, he says, "we view this legislation as particularly protective of employees who might not be working for the most understanding employer when it comes to this kind of time needed." Although the federal government has yet to establish a national mandate on domestic-violence leave, hearings were held by the Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety in April to consider adding such language to the Violence Against Women Act, which was reauthorized in the last Congress. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chairwoman of the subcommittee, expressed frustration at the hearings about the "economic factors that allow abuse to continue." For many victims, she said, a steady income (and laws to protect a victim's income) can provide independence from an abusive spouse or partner, and "economic security and independence is the most accurate indicator of whether a victim will be able to stay away from an abuser."
July 31, 2007 Copyright 2007© LRP Publications |
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