I am starting a petition to change the Civilian Family Medical Leave Act, which guarantees the continuation of a job and health benefits even if the employee needs to take time off to be a family caretaker for a disabled or ill family member. The Military version of the act covers a caretaker who needs to take time away from their job to care for a parent, a child, a spouse or next of kin. The Civilian version does not include the words next of kin, thus caretakers who are siblings, nephews, nieces, half or step relatives are offered no job protection should they need to care for a loved one. In some cases, that person may be the only caretaker an ill or disabled person has. If these caretakers are willing to do the difficult job of caring for a loved one who is ill or disabled, they should at the very least have the protection offered to other family members in that situation.