Should the realities of business take precedence over the realities of life? On the surface, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 suggests that members of the work force are viewed as human beings with human problems.

Disturbingly though, recent in-depth coverage of political issues has shown that many people still oppose this law, for they see it as harmful to business.

The Family and Medical Leave Act requires employers of 50 or more workers to grant employees up to 12 weeks unpaid leave per year for the birth or adoption of a child, for a serious health condition, or to care for a seriously ill spouse, child or parent. The returning employee must be restored to their old job or an equivalent.

Many employers, including the UA, were already offering their employees extended unpaid emergency leave long before the act was enacted. These employers recognize that in today's dual-career family, work and family are no longer completely separable.

Under terms of the human lottery we are all entered in from birth, having a family and possible accident or illness are likely occurrences. Since your employers are also trapped in this same lottery, and since you work most of your waking hours for them, you might reasonably expect understanding and empathy when a family emergency occurs.

Business owners like Carrie Zimmerman, whose advertising and public relations firm in Tallahassee, Fla. employs 50 workers, have a different viewpoint. Two of Zimmerman's employees have already taken time off under the act, and four more plan to do so in the next six months. The law just makes it harder for her to keep afloat, she complains.

"We worry about it every day: either the new taxes, family leave, [or] health care," she said in a recent Associated Press interview. For Zimmerman, your family crisis is a business headache; a nuisance that shouldn't arise. She supports the Republicans, who share her belief that the act is an unfair burden to U.S. business.

It is interesting to speculate how business owners cope with their own family problems. My guess is that either they never have any, or else they are obliged to take time off to deal with them like anyone else.

If Zimmerman was hospitalized by a drunk driver and needed extended leave and therapy, she would probably entrust her business to a temporary manager and return to work as soon as possible. Presumably her other employees would also do their best to keep t hings going in her absence. Apparently, though, Zimmerman and some other business owners are reluctant to grant similar privileges to their employees.

In the eight days before the act became law, the National Association of Working Women received 22 complaints from pregnant women who had been fired. Maripat Blankenheim, the association's spokeswoman, said in Working Woman magazine, "We assume the thinki ng was, 'Let's get them out of the way now.'" Some women return from maternity leave to find themselves shuttled into less responsible, though ostensibly equivalent positions.

Dan Storper, president of Putmayo, a New York clothing company with 75 employees, had a more generous attitude toward family leave. "This isn't that costly, and companies need to understand that there's a relationship between success and how individuals a re treated," Storper said.

A recent Labor Department study reported by the Wall Street Journal reveals that few workers actually make use of the Family and Medical Leave Act. According to this study, "Only 2 percent to 4 percent of workers eligible to take time off under the [act] have done so."

These figures suggest that workers are responsible people who value their jobs and don't want to take advantage of their employers.

Obviously family leave causes smaller businesses some inconvenience. Emergencies just aren't convenient things to employees and employers alike. Granting family leave to a loyal and reliable employee is a fair exchange for that loyalty, and is surely no l ess troublesome than recruiting and retraining a new one.

Those who continue to imply that workers should forfeit their livelihood or job seniority as a penalty for being human are displaying an attitude unworthy of the free society that makes business ownership possible.

Kaye Patchett is a creative writing senior. Her column, 'On Reflection,' appears every other Wednesday.

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