[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 136 (Friday, September 27, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S11537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REPORT OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION ENTITLED ``THE FAMILY-FRIENDLY WORKPLACE 
           ACT OF 1996''--MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT--PM 174

  The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message 
from the President of the United States, together with an accompanying 
report; which was referred to the Committee on Labor and Human 
Resources:

To the Congress of the United States:
  I am pleased to transmit today for consideration and passage the 
``Family-Friendly Workplace Act of 1996.'' Also transmitted is a 
section-by-section analysis. This legislative proposal is vital to 
American workers, offering them a meaningful and flexible opportunity 
to balance successfully their work and family responsibilities.
  The legislation would offer workers more choice and flexibility in 
finding ways to earn the wages they need to support their families 
while also spending valuable time with their families. In particular, 
the legislation would allow eligible employees who work overtime to 
receive compensatory time off--with a limit of up to 80 hours per 
year--in lieu of monetary compensation. In addition, the legislation 
contains explicit protections against coercion by employers and abuses 
by unstable or unscrupulous businesses.
  The legislation also would amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 
1993. This statute currently allows eligible workers at businesses with 
50 or more employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected 
leave to care for a newborn child, attend to their own serious health 
needs, or care for a seriously ill parent, child, or spouse. Although 
enactment of this statute was a major step forward in helping families 
balance work and family obligations, the law does not address many 
situations that working families typically confront. The enclosed 
legislation would cover more of these situations, thereby enhancing 
workers' ability to balance their need to care for their children and 
elderly relatives without sacrificing their employment obligations. 
Under the expanded law, workers could take up to 24 hours of unpaid 
leave each year to fulfill additional, specified family obligations, 
which would include participating in school activities that relate 
directly to the academic advancement of their children, accompanying 
children or elderly relatives to routine medical appointments, and 
attending to other health or care needs of elderly relatives.
  I urge the Congress to give this legislation favorable consideration.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
  The White House, September 27, 1996.

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