Did you know that women working for companies with less than 50 employees may actually be terminated for taking FLMA for the birth of a child?

According to the US Department of Labor, 41.7% of US employees work for small businesses that are NOT COVERED by fair labor laws that most of us take for granted, such as FLMA.  That means nearly half of US workers are exempt from basic rights, such as a 12 week unpaid leave of absence for the birth of a child. Again, employees working in small businesses with less than 50 employees may actually be LEGALLY TERMINATED for taking this critical time away from the workplace, regardless of how many years the employee has worked on a fulltime basis for their company.

In addition, with the US Department of Labor admitting that the majority of businesses in the United States are "small businesses", around half of working US women WON'T BENEFIT from the many of the new laws being touted as an expansion of women's basic rights, such as Obama's health care reform law which mandates more breastfeeding rooms and breaks for breastfeeding mothers. As with FLMA, women working for companies with less than 50 employees - nearly half - will not be entitled to these benefits...a fact that is barely mentioned by proponents of the legislation, and is quickly glossed over by media.

Again, basic rights that are not provided for employees (women) working for companies with less than 50 employees:

1) FMLA: Women are not provided the right to a 12 week unpaid leave of absence for the birth of a child (or any otherwise covered event) regardless of the number of years the employee has worked for the company on a fulltime basis, and may be legally terminated for taking such a leave from the workplace.

2) Working mothers will not be provided the right to "reasonable" breaks for expressing breast milk, or provided "a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from co-workers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk." This means that working mothers may be denied the time to express breast milk during work, or may be forced to do so in a restroom or other place that may not be private or appropriate.

It is a shame that the US Government recognizes the importance of OSHA regulations, the Fair Labor Standard's Act, and many other laws governed by the US Department of Labor, as being basic human rights to ALL EMPLOYEES regardless of the size of their company, but those laws with the most specific and direct impact on women are passed with such strict guidelines that half of fulltime working women in the US will not benefit. Even more shameful is the fact that, under the new health reform law, small businesses will be allotted special tax credits to assist them with covering the costs of implementing this new legislation for their employees, while they won't be required to provide all of the benefits. "Up to 4 million small businesses are eligible for tax credits to help them provide insurance benefits to their workers. The first phase of this provision provides a credit worth up to 35% of the employer’s contribution to the employees’ health insurance. Small non-profit organizations may receive up to a 25% credit."

But most appalling and frightening of all, is the fact that these important issues are being glossed over, and it's likely that very few women will realize that they're denied these basic rights until the need arises.

This petition is especially important now, when many issues are currently pending, including the new health reform law, among others. Regardless of which side of the health reform debate you stand, and whether or not you support such legislation, the issue proposed here is about the exclusion of small business employees from fair labor laws - those existing and proposed - and their unfair discrimination of women in the workplace under the governance of such laws.

Please take a stand, and demand that employees of all company sizes - large and small - be allowed such basic human rights.

http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/chapter3.htm
http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/hrg.htm
http://www.healthcare.gov/law/timeline/index.html#event7-pane