“It’s been 30 yrs since the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) making it a federal law that 12 weeks of Unpaid Family Leave was due any worker who met certain requirements, was signed into law by Bill Clinton; it was supposed to be “just the beginning” of support for families who needed time off for the birth of a child or to take care of sick relatives”
It’s time we make comprehensive, paid family and medical leave a reality for every worker in America.
“Women have been expected to take on [caregiving] and handle it without complaint and largely without support,” says Jocelyn Frye, president of the National Partnership. “The Family and Medical Leave Act rejected the premise that it‚Äôs a woman’s lot in life to do that work. Instead, what the FMLA said is that all workers have some sort of care need, and we need to be able to ensure that those folks can take time off and come back to their jobs.”
“The law’s longevity is a point of pride for organizations like the National Partnership for Women & Families, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that played a lead role in drafting the FMLA and advocating for its passage.”
Jocelyn Frye, the president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, says: “The FMLA was a groundbreaking step forward, but our work is not done. We cannot continue to ignore the care needs of workers and their families. Our nation’s leaders need to step up and make the choice to enact policies that enable workers to do their jobs and care for their families without putting their livelihoods at risk.”
Ahead of FMLA’s 30th anniversary, researchers find a lack of paid leave makes economic challenges worse across the U.S.
On the eve of the 30th Anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act – also known as FMLA –, the National Partnership for Women & Families released a new analysis which finds that FMLA has been used more than 460 million times since being signed into law.
“The recent article focusing on priorities for the 2023 legislative session (“Reconsidering priorities,” Jan. 9) missed one critical opportunity: passing paid leave for New Mexico. No one should have to choose between a paycheck and taking care of their family. And research shows paid leave is good for businesses and the economy… “
Jocelyn Frye, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, said the passage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act was a win for gender and racial equity. She added, “For far too long, pregnant workers have gone without the critical protections many people need to maintain a healthy pregnancy: protections like the ability to take bathroom breaks during a shift, sit down while working a cash register, or pause to take a drink of water to stay hydrated.”
“According to the National Partnership for Women & Families, “only 25% of United States workers have paid family leave through their employers, and just 41% have access to personal medical leave through employer-provided short-term disability insurance.””
“The National Partnership for Women & Families has a guide that recommends ways employers can better support pregnant employees on the job. For example, extending accommodations to “all workers, regardless of part-time or temporary status,” not forcing workers to accept unnecessary accommodations, providing paid sick leave and family leave, not docking employees for tardy arrival, and eliminating ‘just-in-time’ scheduling, which gives employees very little notice of their shifts.”
“Access to paid leave helps our economy and helps keep people in the jobs they need so they can care for the families they love without jeopardizing their economic security. Yet 26 million workers currently lack access to paid sick days, as reported last month by the National Partnership for Women & Families. That includes 70 percent of the lowest wage workers, including many child care early educators.”
“We have more pro-worker, pro-family, [Democratic] trifecta states now with the latest election,” Sharita Gruberg, vice president of economic justice at the National Partnership for Women and Families, said. “We will continue to see states not wait for the federal government.”
According to The National Partnership for Women & Families, the current gender wage gap is “even larger when measured over the long term because women are often pushed to spend time out of the workforce, in part due to caregiving.” This is compounded by the perception that workers are less committed to their jobs when they take parental leave, especially for men.
Vasu Reddy, senior policy counsel for economic justice at the National Partnership for Women and Families, says that opponents of paid leave include big businesses, trade associations, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “These groups continue to say that paid leave will be a burden on small businesses, but it’s not true,” she says. “We have reams of evidence to show that paid leave does not have a negative impact on small companies. Every state that has passed it has seen reduced worker turnover and less need to recruit and train new personnel. In fact, a recent survey found that at least 70 percent of small business owners support paid family and medical leave.”
“Paid Leave for All Action and the National Partnership for Women and Families Action Fund will release a scorecard ranking members of Congress on their support of paid leave.”
“The National Partnership for Women & Families said more than 4 million Ohio workers are without paid family leave as of February of this year.”
“But I wanted psychological and economic explanations of what might be going on, too. Part of the problem is that the (often inadequate) social and emotional support that exists has been further frayed, and it seems like no one is coming to mend it. For example, child care, which should be considered vital infrastructure, is still not functioning at prepandemic levels, according to Katherine Gallagher Robbins, a senior fellow at the National Partnership for Women & Families.”
Latinx employees reporting their employers offer no form of paid time off, according to a 2021 study by the National Partnership for Women & Families.
“Our nation’s leaders must stop ignoring what the data tell us time and time again — that paid family and medical leave is a critical support that families need, it is what Americans want, and it is what they deserve,” Jocelyn Frye, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, said in a statement.
