Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 6, 1993 TAG: 9302060041
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
MANY ROANOKE-AREA EMPLOYERS ALREADY MEET LEAVE REQUIREMENT
Officials at many Roanoke Valley businesses say they already have employee policies that parallel the family-leave legislation signed Friday.The new law, which requires companies to allow employees up to 12 weeks unpaid leave for family health emergencies, affects more than 50 percent of the area's workers. It goes into effect in August.
Companies with fewer than 50 employees are exempt, but businesses with just over that number of employees are expected to be the hardest hit.
"It will be quite an adjustment," said Amy Fulton, a spokeswoman for ETS International Inc., which has 80 employees.
She said the extensive time off provided for will be difficult for a small company to absorb.
ETS, a pollution controls company, currently offers a paid maternity leave of six weeks. Employees have 10 sick days that can also be used for illness of family members.
Rene Wimmer, vice president of finances for Rusco Inc., said that when someone at his company is away, the other 60-some employees take up the slack. He said most of the jobs at the window manufacturing and installation company require knowledge that temporary employees would not have.
Wimmer said doesn't anticipate there will be much change come August. But he said there could be a problem if several employees needed to be off at once.
"But when you think about it, how many people do you know who can take 12 weeks unpaid leave anyway?" Wimmer said.
Joyce Garza, personnel director at 65-employee Optical Cable, said the new law shouldn't cause much change at her company, but it might make the company review its health benefits policy.
She said Optical pays 100 percent of health-care costs for employees and their families. During leaves, it might have to consider asking employees to pay the family-member portion of health costs, she said.
Coy Renick of Vitramon Inc., president of the Roanoke Valley Society of Human Resource Management, said human resource managers have some concern that because the leave has been mandated, more employees might ask for it. He said an increase in demand could cause companies problems.
However, the experience of Carilion Health Systems seems to negate the increased-demand theory.
Carilion has a 90-day leave plan that embraces, and in some ways exceeds, the spirit of the family leave bill, said Lucas Snipes, senior vice president.
Since the first stirrings of the national debate over the issue, Snipes said Carilion has analyzed its paid and unpaid leave programs to determine which one employees use the most.
The company found that the majority of employees were able to combine sick leave and vacation to take paid time off during family emergencies.
"Over 90 percent of the leave taken is paid," Snipes said. "People generally have accumulated enough sick leave or paid time out. The remaining 10 percent who take leave come back within 30 days."
About 1 percent of Carilion's 5,000 employees have taken advantage of the company's 90-day unpaid leave, he said.
"We can't readily replace employees," he said, particularly those who require extensive training. "It makes good sense to bring those people back."
He said the only major change is that the new law will require Carilion to extend health benefits beyond what is currently paid during unpaid absences.
"Right now, if you go out on an unpaid leave, we would pay your health insurance through the end of the month you leave in," he said.
The law says a company has to give the health insurance benefit for the entire 12-week leave period.
Bill Pistner, employee relations manager for Dominion Bankshares Corp., said the changing workplace makes flexibility imperative. He said enlightened companies benefit because they can attract good employees.
He said Dominion's policies provide for a four-month unpaid maternity leave. First Union, which will acquire Dominion next month, provides leave for fathers and mothers of biological and adopted children.
Employees facing family emergencies can qualify for 30 to 180 days off, Pistner said. Although the time is unpaid, benefits and seniority continue.
Roger Farley, human resources manager at the General Electric Industrial Controls plant in Salem, said GE for five years or more has approved leaves of absence.
Friday, Farley said he approved a three-month unpaid leave for an employee to go to school and another this week for a woman who wants to look for a GE job near her husband, who is transferring out of state.
"We have been fairly progressive [in leave policies] for a long time," Farley said.
Claudia Lambert, human resources representative for The Atlantic Cos., said her company has had leave policy comparable to the new law since 1990 for its 570 employees.
"It's been moderately used," she said.
She said most leaves have been for childbirth, but that there have been some for family illness and some male employees have taken time off to care for families, including newborns.
Some employers recently changed policies to prepare for the family leave law. The city of Roanoke recently adopted a policy that provides up to 480 hours (12 weeks) of leave for pregnancy and family illness.
The employee needs approval for the leave, but Personnel Manager Ken Cronin says most requests are approved.
While they agreed with the concept of family leave, some business owners said they resented it being forced on them.
"Why do we need a government mandate?" said Abney Boxley III, president of W.W. Boxley Co. in Roanoke.
He said his rock quarrying business has had informal unpaid leaves for "people with problems" for years.
Staff writers Carolyn Click, George Kegley, Mag Poff and Joel Turner contributed information for this story.