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UNIT IV JOURNAL: BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

Student’s Name

Institution Affiliation

Course

Professor’s Name

Date
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The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in the United States allows some

employers to grant unpaid leave for family and medical reasons. Some state and local laws

apply, but no paid leaves are required under federal law (Donovan, 2020). Three years back, a

friend was in quite a challenging situation. His father fell ill and needed constant attention and

care. The situation forced him to use all his accrued annual leave to keep traveling back and forth

between Virginia and Georgia to be by the side of his ailing father. He had taken 45 days of

leave and gone deep into the unpaid leave territory. The policy at the time did not include paid

leave based on what is acceptable, so my friend was in a fix. Unpaid leave was impossible and

became an undue hardship for my friend, so the HR department was involved. They took a

compassionate approach when they understood the stress on the employee and the organization.

There was a reassignment within a 60-mile radius of the father's residence, so my friend would

be nearest him. This empathic change in the workplace was not only a reaction based on

consideration toward a challenging personal situation but also one that set a tactical course to

ensure employees' future wellbeing and productivity.

I have to disagree with the existing policy at that time. The policy that used only the

annual accrued leaves looked rigid and needed to consider how family and medical crises can

quickly arise unexpectedly. Specific life issues may come so suddenly, such as a close member

of the family falling seriously ill and calling for prolonged periods of leave beyond what an

employee might have accrued. In the scenario, though, when he was forced to exhaust even his

accumulated annual leave, at the downside of it, he was a beautiful-looking addition to the woes

at a time when one was already facing a lot of hassles. The policy, in this case, utterly lacked the

human sentiment and the essence that renders itself a more tender approach toward their

wellbeing on the part of an employee (Donovan, 2020). Later, the HR department itself ruled this
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to be an undue hardship, suggesting that the department finally seemed to accept that the current

policy it was mandated to enforce was not flexible enough to deal with such situations. This

again supports the postulation that the policy in force at the time certainly did not allow latitude

for this kind of nuance.

On further reflection and consideration, my viewpoint has a subtle shift regarding how

unpaid family leave laws impact an employer. Initially, fault would lie with the rigidity presented

by the existing policy, which emphasizes accrued leave but places financial strains on the

employee. However, after a closer review of the employer's response and, mainly, the provision

of compassionate reassignment within 60 miles, I realized that there needs to be a balanced

perspective. On my part, the implications of unpaid family leave laws for an employer sit even

more apparent as I pose a measured consideration for the tricky balancing act they must play

between being efficient at operations and showing understanding towards people going through

personal crises. But then the HR department follows it through with compassionate reassignment

due to undue hardship. It reflects a willingness to adopt a policy when the unexpected arises. In

their very nature, the latter actions are flexible compared to the first policy. In this instance, the

upshot of this legislation on unpaid family leave is a result that ensures not just adherence to the

law. Still, it encourages an approach through which the employer must consider and address a

level of social responsibility.

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Reference

Donovan, S. A. (2020). Paid family and medical leave in the United States. Congressional

Research Service.