Talking Points on Family Leave

The Paid Family Leave Act . . .

• Helps a wide range of people: Low income, middle to upper class, newborns, males, females and seniors.
• Doesn’t have to cost the state any money.  In the case of Califrnia, funds paid by employees are added to existing TDI (temporary disability insurance) funds already in place.
• Doesn’t cost employers any money.  And, it is cost effective measured in employee retention.  Because the system is completely funded by employees, employers are not paying directly into the system. 
• Furthermore, when employers allow their employees time off for medical/family reasons, they are more likely to return.  In fact, a study conducted by the bi-partisan Commission on Family Leave found that 98% of workers who took their family leave returned to their jobs.
• Doesn’t require new job protections.  All job protections specified in FMLA still apply.
• Costs incurred on workers are very low. ($36/ year).

According to CPA, Family leave benefits support the needs of working families in today’s economy. (CPA) www.stateaction.org.

• Family and work patterns have shifted dramatically in recent decades, yet workplace policies have not kept pace with these changes.
• The proportion of mothers with children ages 6-17 in the workforce between 1955-2001 increased from 38 to 78 percent, and for mothers with children under six, from 18 to 64 percent.1
• Similarly, the proportion of single-parent households has more than doubled, from 12 percent in 1970 to 28 percent in 1998.2

1 U.S.Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2001.
2 U.S.Bureau of the Census, “Population Characteristics: Marital Status and Living Arrangements,” 1999.

• About 25 percent of Americans have elderly relatives to care for, and many of them reduce their work hours or take a brief leave from work to care for them. Americans shouldn’t have to choose between keeping a job and caring for family.

Family leave benefits strengthen businesses.

• The vast majority of employers—84 percent—found that the benefits of providing leave under the FMLA offset or outweighed the costs, according to the bipartisan Commission on Family Leave. 
•  Nearly 42 percent reported a positive return on their leave programs, and another 42 percent said the costs had a neutral effect.
• Furthermore, 98 percent of employees who took family leave returned to work for the same employer, and 77 percent of employers reported cost savings because of decreased turnover.

Some states currently provide limited forms of family leave benefits. 

• Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico have Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) systems that provide partial wage replacement for employees who are temporarily disabled for medical reasons, including pregnancy and childbirth.
• Minnesota pioneered a public program that provides low-income working parents with subsidies for caring for infants under age one.
• Missouri adopted a similar program. California, Minnesotaand Washingtonrequire private employers to allow employees to use paid sick leave to care for sick children.
• And in 2002, Oklahoma became the 25th state to require state and/or local governments to allow employees to use paid sick leave to care for certain ill family members.

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