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A More Inclusive Family Leave
Gay couples working for businesses with 50 or more employees will soon have the same rights as their straight counterparts to take work off to care for their partner’s sick or newborn child.
President Barack Obama stands behind the move expanding the parameters of the Family Leave Act. But the new rules will be issued by the Labor Department’s wage and hour division today or tomorrow.
The practical effect of the law for businesses is that it expands the pool of people eligible for 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for newborns, ill spouses, sons or daughters.
"Families look different now," ABC News reports an Obama administration official saying. "Family relationships look different now. And we're interpreting the law to reflect that."
The 1993 law didn’t address the issue of gay couples. But the expansion to include them is in keeping with general moves by the Obama administration, which has announced plans to grant hospital visiting rights to gay couples, and to apply the Violence Against Women Act to protect gay partners.
Kent Bernhard Jr. is News Editor of Portfolio.com
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