The time immediately after a birth or adoption is important for parents and children, and as a result, many countries around the world offer their citizens some form of paid maternity leave, parental leave, or government paid family leave. But not us.
The United States stands alone in being the only country in the OECD to ensure that paid parental leave is not available to its citizens. And despite the best efforts of some state legislators, only a few states have succeeded in providing the majority of people with what should be a universal benefit.
Here’s what you need to know about the state of parental leave in the US, from inadequate federal legislation to places stepping up to help new parents.
What does federal law say about family leave?
There is one federal leave law on the books. The Family and Medical Leave Act, passed in 1993, guarantees “eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family and health reasons with continuation of group health insurance under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave.” Those reasons include the birth, adoption, and placement of a new child.
“Covered employers” are employers that are government agencies (at any level of government), K-12 schools (public or private), or private sector employers that employ 50 or more people in 20 or more work weeks. That’s a fancy way of saying that small businesses—a favorite phrase of some political actors—shouldn’t let their employees take time off when they have a baby.
“Eligible employees” are those who have been on the job for at least 12 months and worked at least 1,250 hours in the previous year in an area where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles who can claim leave under the FMLA.
It is very important that the leave provided by FMLA is not paid. For working families, the leave protected by the job is good, but it cannot be taken because, people do not have the money to not pay.
It just means you can’t lose your job or your employer-provided health insurance while you’re out. Taking the full 12 weeks means giving up 12 weeks of pay, about a quarter of a person’s annual salary. It is almost impossible for working people to do that, and the number of people who can use the time is limited.
The refusal to provide substantial funding and the twisting of the language in this bill reveals why FMLA is so inadequate. When most people can’t take government-provided leave, even if they qualify under certain conditions, it’s not really a law that helps people.
How many states have provided additional unpaid leave?
Twenty-one states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico be extended unpaid leave beyond the limits set by the FMLA, according to HR software company Paycor. Here are a few examples:
- In Iowa, companies with four or more employees must provide eight weeks of unpaid leave regardless of how long the employee has worked there.
- In Maine, companies with 15 or more employees must give their employees ten weeks of unpaid leave.
- In Montana, all female employees are entitled to “reasonable maternity leave.”
In all states that have extended unpaid leave to their citizens, the problem of people not being able to pay for leave remains. That’s why the real MVPs are the state legislators who were able to get paid parental leave passed into law.
Which states have paid parental leave?
A number of state and local governments have stepped up to ensure that new parents in the middle of their confinement receive this clear benefit, and as time goes on, barring the federal furlough policy passed under the Biden Administration, you should expect more states to step up and offer the benefit.
California, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon, Colorado, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico all parental guarantees go within one year of birth or adoption placement for a certain period of time at a certain income level. The details of each state vary—in particular, Puerto Rico’s benefit only applies to mothers four weeks before the birth and four weeks after—but in all, there is some kind of plan to avoid forcing new parents who spend precious time with their children to miss the income that makes it possible to take care of your family financially.
This article was originally published
