In December 2017, Kate Boone, 26, an account manager with Century Support Services in North Huntingdon, PA — another state without a paid family leave law — had to choose between using the unpaid FMLA leave or continuing to work while taking care of her mother, who has Parkinson’s Disease and broke her hip twice within a month.
“It’s interesting that we’re needing to decide how she should be treated in this situation when we’re not having the same conversations about other members with medical needs,” Vicki Shabo, the vice president for workplace policies and strategies at the National Partnership for Women & Families, said.
Requiring paid sick leave for all workers could help the nation better cope with public-health problems such as flu, some analysts say.
[P]erhaps the fact that the LDS Church — “a major employer in the state” — already offers paid parental leave will help move discussions along at the Legislature, said Senate Minority Leader Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake City. “The more we see employers instigating this in the private sector,” he said, “it only means that the public sector needs to do the same thing.”
Vicki Shabo, vice president at the non-profit National Partnership for Women & Families, said the system would “reinforce caregiving norms” and “jeopardize” Social Security.
For 20 million Americans, staying home sick is a luxury. Every year, that many people go to work with a virus or infection because they don’t have paid sick leave, even though research shows that staying home prevents the flu from spreading.
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
As this wrap up shows, there is tremendous strength, diversity, passion and clout behind the vibrant movement to win paid family and medical leave for all.
There are moments when you can almost feel the ground shift beneath you. When then-Sen. Al Gore took to the Senate floor to describe his 6-year-old son Albert’s terrifying 1989 accident, it was a pivotal moment not just for the Gore family but also for the country.
Paid leave could provide a key component of caring for Maine’s aging population. By 2030, 28 percent of our population is expected be 65 or older, and almost two-thirds of those are expected to need long-term services and supports.
“People often assume the law only applies to moms and babies, but the most common use is to deal with your own health issue,” says Vicki Shabo, vice president for workplace policies and strategies at the National Partnership for Women & Families.
If this season’s widespread flu outbreak has hit you, you should stay home to rest and avoid spreading it to others. But, for those who don’t have paid sick days or any job-protected leave, that might not be an option.
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
Across our nation, working parents face barriers to staying in the workforce. Lack of access to affordable child care and to paid family, medical and parental leave forces people to choose between taking care of their children or a sick family member and losing their job and their health insurance.
Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, said in a statement on the anniversary of the FMLA, “As a nation, we have reached an extraordinary moment of consensus and conviction in the national effort to win paid family and medical leave for all. … But the details matter tremendously and key policy principles are essential to ensuring that the national plan we adopt will be affordable, sustainable, inclusive and effective.”
“It’s a public health emergency that we don’t offer more support for parents in this country,” said Darby Saxbe, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Southern California.
“It is past time for Congress to fulfill the promise of the FMLA by passing a national paid family and medical leave plan. But not just any plan will do. Lawmakers should consider the evidence and support the Family And Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act, the leading paid leave proposal in Congress.”
Access to paid sick leave decreases the probability of job separation, and making coverage universal could substantially reduce medical costs, particularly those paid by public health insurance programs.
About 85,000 California men took paid family leave in California during the 2017 fiscal year, double the number that took paternity leave in 2009, according to the latest figures from the California Employment Development Department.
As part of a coalition led by organizations including the Restaurant Opportunities Center United and the National Employment Law Project, the National Partnership for Women & Families submitted comments today opposing a rule that could cost tipped workers an...