Indiana employers with at least 50 employees, like every other state, must provide FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) to qualifying employees. This federal act requires covered employers to supply employees with job protection and unpaid leave for qualified medical and family-related reasons. Currently, under federal law, employees can utilize leave for the following purposes:

• The birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child
• The care of a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition
• A personal serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform their job
• A situation that requires attention because of the military deployment of a spouse, child, or parent

The FMLA does not require any employer to appoint its employees paid leave benefits. In other words, a man/woman may utilize FMLA benefits, but with absolutely no expectations of a subsequent supportive income. This means for example, among copious other moral shortcomings attached to this act, a woman can endure a miscarriage or stillbirth which are recognized as a "serious health condition" under this act, yet she may still not feel comfortable taking time away from work to recover from said serious health condition due to a halt in wages.

I am proposing Indiana join the few other progressive states that have taken initiative to create their own State Family Leave. With the recognition that this amendment to the statute will likely impose an additional employee payroll tax, I feel that the majority of working-class citizens would agree it is worth the return on investment.