Family and Medical Leave
The United States is the only developed nation that does not provide paid family leave to its citizens. The U.S. doesn’t even mandate paid maternity leave; the only other nations that don’t offer such basic support include Lesotho, Liberia, Papua New Guinea, and Swaziland. After the passage of the Federal Family Medical Leave Act of 1993, the U.S. requires larger employers to offer unpaid family leave to their workers. As of this writing, California and New Jersey are the only two states that offer paid family leave.
Commentary
Chamber of Commerce Was Wrong About Family and Medical Leave Law
Cry Wolf Quotes
We can fix it for you. We fix everything in Washington. We raise your taxes, we raise the deficit, we have more regulations, so we can give you more mandates and tell your employer what to do in Topeka, KS, or wherever it may be in America…. Well, Mr. President, this is one of those cases where Washington does not know best….The real world impact of this well-intentioned legislation--this mandate--is that employers will revisit those projections and budgets and cut back on something else, including creating new jobs at the very time that we need new jobs.
It's just a bad piece of legislation…This continuous tendency to try to mandate benefit policy creates a bad business environment for Tennessee and the U.S. as a whole…[benefits] should be left up to the employers and employees to determine.
It's a very anti-business bill. This is not any time to be looking at a bill like this.
This is either a late April Fool's Day joke or Massachusetts should be on suicide watch….Here we are, one of only two states to lose population; sixth-highest tax burden; national reputation for high cost of doing business….Yes, along with our winter weather and everything else that discourages job creation here, we would have the 'most generous' mandatory paid leave in the country. Eventually, of course, the new employee tax would increase and be joined by a new tax on employers.
Related Laws and Rules
Evidence
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Leaves That Pay: Employer and Worker Experiences with Paid Family Leave in California
The Center for Economic and Policy Research's recent survery of employers and employees shows that California's paid family leave law has provided a plethora of benefits.
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A Workable Balance: Report to Congress on Family and Medical Leave Policies
A tenth anniversary study of the Family Medical Leave Act's effects.
Backgrounders & Briefs
The Work, Family and Equity Index: How Does the United States Measure Up?
The Project on Global Working Families is a study that measures worldwide social safety nets.
Resources
Institute for Women’s Policy Research is a prominent think tank that is largely focused on American women's issues. This covers everything from pay equity to welfare reform to domestic violence.
MomsRising focuses on "bringing important motherhood and family issues."
The National Partnership for Women and Families leads the national fight for paid sick days and paid family and medical leave.
