[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
[April 11, 1997]
[Pages 432-433]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Memorandum on Expanded Family and Medical Leave Policies
April 11, 1997

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

Subject: Expanded Family and Medical Leave Policies

    I have strongly supported meeting Federal employees' family and 
medical leave needs through enactment of the Family and Medical Leave 
Act of 1993 (FMLA) and the Federal Employees Family Friendly Leave Act 
of 1994 (FEFFLA). However, Federal employees often have important family 
and medical needs that do not qualify for unpaid leave under the FMLA or 
sick leave under the FEFFLA. I ask you to take immediate action to 
assist Federal workers further in balancing the demands of work and 
family.
    Last year I proposed to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act of 
1993. My legislation would allow Federal and eligible private sector 
workers 24 hours of unpaid leave during any 12-month period to fulfill 
certain family obligations. Under the legislation, employees could use 
unpaid leave to participate in school activities directly related to the 
educational advancement of a child, including early childhood education 
activities; accompany children to routine medical and dental 
examinations; and tend to the needs of older relatives.
    In furtherance of my proposed policy, I ask that you take immediate 
action within existing statutory authorities to ensure that Federal 
employees may schedule and be granted up to 24 hours of leave without 
pay each year for the following activities:
      (1) School and Early Childhood Educational Activities--to allow 
        employees to participate in school activities directly related 
        to the educational advancement of a child. This would include 
        parent-teacher conferences or meetings with child-care 
        providers, interviewing for a new school or child-care facility, 
        or participating in volunteer activities supporting the child's 
        educational advancement. In this memorandum, ``school'' refers 
        to an elementary school, secondary school, Head Start program, 
        or a child-care facility.
      (2) Routine Family Medical Purposes--to allow parents to accompany 
        children to routine medical or dental appointments, such as 
        annual checkups or vaccinations. Although these activities are 
        not currently covered by the FMLA, the FEFFLA does permit 
        employees to use up to 13 days of sick leave each year for such 
        purposes. Agencies should assure that employees are able to use 
        up to 24 hours of leave without pay each year for these purposes 
        in cases

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        when no additional sick leave is available to employees.
      (3) Elderly Relatives' Health or Care Needs--to allow employees to 
        accompany an elderly relative to routine medical or dental 
        appointments or other professional services related to the care 
        of the elderly relative, such as making arrangements for 
        housing, meals, phones, banking services, and other similar 
        activities. Although Federal employees can use unpaid leave or 
        sick leave for certain of these activities under the FMLA or 
        FEFFLA, such as caring for a parent with a serious health 
        condition, agencies should ensure employees can use up to 24 
        hours of unpaid time off each year for this broader range of 
        activities related to elderly relatives' health or care needs.
    This new policy will assure that Federal employees can schedule and 
receive up to 24 hours away from the job each year for these family and 
medical circumstances. I also urge you to accommodate these employee 
needs as mission requirements permit, even when it is not possible for 
employees to anticipate or schedule leave in advance for these purposes. 
In addition, I ask that you support employees' requests to schedule paid 
time off--such as annual leave, compensatory time off, and credit hours 
under flexible work schedules--for these family activities when such 
leave is available to these employees. The Office of Personnel 
Management shall provide guidance to you on the implementation of this 
memorandum.
    I encourage you to use a partnership approach with your employees 
and their representatives in developing an effective program that 
balances the employees' needs to succeed both at work and at home. I ask 
agencies, unions, and management associations to continue to work 
together to assess and improve the use of family-friendly programs and 
to make certain that employees are aware of the expanded family and 
medical leave policy.

                                                      William J. Clinton

Note: This memorandum was embargoed for release until 10:06 a.m. on 
April 12.