In 1993, Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requiring employers to provide up to twelve (12) weeks of job-protected family and medical leave. Fortunately, small businesses (less than 50 employees) were exempt from this federal law requirement.

Recently a bill (H.R. 6938-The Job Protection Act) was reintroduced to Congress that could extend this family medical leave to “tens of millions of additional employees” by ending the small employer exemption. If enacted, this 12 weeks of mandated leave would apply to all businesses, including those with just one employee.

Furthermore, the rules for eligibility would also be significantly relaxed. Rather than having to work at least 1,250 hours a year and complete at least