A few thoughts of my own — this thread is hideous. And I am incredibly, deeply empathetic to working parents right now. Maintaining employment and caring for children is overwhelming. 1/6 https://twitter.com/safereturnua/status/1289262216789680129

This thread illustrates a common misunderstanding about FMLA. How it can be used, and that your time off is paid. You can used FMLA when you or a family member are ill. And your time off is paid by your own accrued vacation or sick time. 2/6

If you have a policy that you’ve paid into that covers short term medical leave that kicks in for you, but not for family.
What no one has been talking about in all of this are the (mainly women) who are working and caring for family with special needs 3/6

Their life altering shift in work and care started long before this and will not end after this is over. COVID-19 makes it more complicated but the monumental difficulties were already there. Workplaces and societal structures have been slow to accommodate. 4/6

I can speak as one person who cared for my husband for 10 years, 9 1/2 of them by myself while working full time. Dementia with seizures and falls. I was lucky that most of my bosses were sympathetic, but expectations were the same. 5/6

During the pandemic we are talking a lot about the new realities of working parents. Women and men who care for loved ones at home while working full time have been facing similar challenges for years. Don’t forget about them. 6/6