FMLA – The Issue Spotter

March 1, 2022 0

Is Build Back Better’s Paid Leave Provision Really a No-Brainer?

(Source) America is one of very few nations that lack a national paid leave program. The Build Back Better Act passed by the U.S House of Representatives attempted to remedy this by instituting a uniform paid leave policy for those working in the private sector. This would have been the most significant expansion of the scope of paid leave since the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was enacted in 1993. However, paid leave has always been a hotly debated topic with both sides of the argument expressing valid concerns. This time too, the paid leave provisions of the Build Back Better Act has divided people across and within Party lines. After slicing down the initial proposal heavily, the Democrats completely excluded paid leave from the Act for a lack of sufficient consensus. 1. The Paid Leave Provision in the Build Back Better Act Paid leave was an important part of President Biden’s agenda when he was voted into office. As a section of the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better package, the proposal initially envisioned twelve weeks of paid leave per year. In an attempt to secure higher support for the provision, the paid leave was reduced to four weeks [read more]

January 29, 2021 0

Privilege, Progress, and Paid Family Leave

(Source) The United States has an embarrassing—and for many families, financially, physically, and emotionally devastating—paid family leave problem. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States ranks last in government-mandated paid leave for new parents. Among forty-one nations, the U.S. fails to mandate paid leave for new parents. Individual states have failed to pick up the slack. Currently, California, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Washington, and Washington, D.C. are the only states which provide paid family leave to eligible workers. Washington and Washington D.C.’s programs began just last year. Two more states—Connecticut, and Oregon—have programs slated to begin in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Colorado voted this past November on Proposition 118 to determine whether the state would implement its own paid family and medical leave program. Even though Colorado’s Proposition 118 passed, only nine states (plus the District of Columbia) have made meaningful steps toward a paid family leave mandate. The need for government-mandated leave becomes evident with a quick look at private sector leave statistics. In 2019, 18% of private sector employees had access to paid family leave through their employer and 42% of private sector employees had access to fully or partly [read more]