Heads up!

I think it's time to contact my representatives, yep.

From The New York Times:

Ohio Pushes Added Leave for Maternity

By BOB DRIEHAUS
Published: August 12, 2007

CINCINNATI, Aug. 11 — The Ohio Civil Rights Commission is pushing for a broad expansion of benefits for pregnant workers.

If its proposals are adopted, Ohio would join 18 states that require employers to offer maternity leaves that exceed those mandated by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. That law offers workers at businesses with 50 or more employees 12 weeks of unpaid leave for infant care.

Expectant mothers must have worked for a business for a year, or 1,250 hours, to be eligible.

The Ohio commission has proposed that businesses with four or more employees offer 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave to pregnant employees, regardless of how long they have worked for the businesses.

Workers not eligible under the federal law would need a doctor’s orders to qualify.

The commission is revising its proposal after business groups said the rules would hurt small businesses and the state’s economy. The revisions are expected to go next month to a State Senate and House committee that could approve the rules without further action by the Legislature.

Jeanine P. Donaldson, who this year became the first woman to lead the commission, said the law on maternity leave needed to ensure that more women were protected against discrimination.

Ms. Donaldson said she was willing to bend on the number of weeks of guaranteed leave but hoped to preserve the stipulation that length of service would not affect eligibility.

“I don’t think a woman can decide when to get pregnant,” Ms. Donaldson said. “To choose motherhood over livelihood, I don’t think that is what the legislators had in mind.”

Business groups say the expanded leave would damage the economy. “There’s really no reason to change the current law,” said Tony Fiore, director of labor and human resources policy for the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.

Requiring small businesses to hold open positions would be a hardship, he said, as would the immediate eligibility for new workers at large corporations.

Ty Pine, legislative director for the Ohio branch of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said the market was doing a good job of establishing reasonable maternity leaves for workers and businesses.

“We would like to maintain the current practice of reasonable time off without mandating specifically,” Mr. Pine said.