I recently wrote about NJ working towards offering employees paid leave so that they can care for family members and now Maryland is doing the same, and has approved a bill that allows workers to use paid leave and sick time to do just that. Kudos MD!
People who need to care for newborns and/or aging parents may soon have paid Family Medical Leave, according to a recent report in the Atlantic City Press. A bill to provide paid coverage for employees passed the Assembly yesterday, this article says. Not surprisingly, business groups cite costs as a reason for opposing the bill, although labor groups were “generally in favor.”
More from the article:
“Federal law already grants as much as 12 weeks of unpaid leave for workers at businesses with more than 50 employees.
This bill would provide as long as six weeks of time off for 12-month period to care for a close relative or a child less than a year old.
The employee could draw as much as two-thirds of his salary from the state Temporary Disability Insurance fund, up to $502 per week.
Employees across the state would initially pay about $25 per year into the fund, rising to about $33 in later years.
The state has about 4.1 million workers. State Labor Commissioner David Socolow has estimated that about 38,000 people would annually take advantage of the program.”
I’m currently half-way through my FMLA leave in Virginia where I am getting by on unpaid leave and then using short-term disability for a partial pay check and making up the difference by using banked sick leave and vacation pay. It’s not 100 percent of my salary but it’s better than what moms were getting before the 1993 FMLA law that was enacted during the Clinton administration. I’m thankful for this step but I think we can do better for employees in all states. I know it’s a financial hardship for the smallest companies who may struggle to provide health insurance for employees but I have high hopes for the next presidential administration to begin to make improvements for workers.
Is NJ messing with Family Medical Leave (FMLA)? Not exactly. But businesses are not excited about expanding the program from the 12 weeks of unpaid leave to actually paying employees for 10 weeks in an effort to offer flexibility. (i.e. get them back in the office sooner). The bill, S-2249, would grant workers up to 10 weeks of paid time off to care for a sick loved one, a newborn child or a newly adopted child, according to a recent article in NorthJersey.com. It’s a state-based twist to a federal act to help new parents, for the most part, but some business owners balked at say that it will discourage them from expanding their businesses in New Jersey and they sounded like they would consider expanding in other states rather than stay in the Garden State.
Let’s consider FMLA in my personal situation. I work for an organization that makes it possible for me to use my 12 weeks of unpaid leave and also collect short-term disability during most of those weeks, equaling 60 percent of my salary through my insurance. Seems like a good option for me and the company and leaves room for improvement. I also think of how long it would take for this organization, if I had quit when the baby is born, to research a new employee, conduct phone and several in-person interviews, invite the person to join the organization, and then if the person accepts the job, the eight to nine months of training it takes to learn the ins and outs of my organization, develop professional relationships with my colleagues and foster professional relationships with the people who I interview (i.e. build up that rolodex). So, in my view, giving me at least three months to care for my newborn is a pretty good deal for my company and if they wanted to keep more workers, offer this proposed benefit to help retain useful employees. Turnover at organizations is expensive, there is no getting around that. But offering a helpful benefit at a company (like the one where I work - 90 percent women) could provide companies with a competitive leg up.
Many years of hard work, sweat and tears have no doubt gone into the potential medical degree for Sophie Currier. But now, as a nursing mother of a four-month-old, breast milk, or the need to pump said milk, may stand in the way of her being able to complete the Harvard medical exam during the allotted time, according to a recent New York Times article.
Ms. Currier requested more time than the standard 45 minutes allotted for breaks during the nine-hour test in order to express milk, eat lunch and also use the restroom but she has not yet received the approval for the extra time beyond being told that she would be allowed to use one of the empty exam rooms to pump (all of which may be monitored through one-way glass). The National Board of Medical Examiners has so far refused her request for extra time and so Ms. Currier asked a Mass. Superior Court judge to step in and order that she get extra time and also a private room with a power outlet.
It is sort of ironic that the American Academy of Pediatrics is pushing breast feeding as the best nutrition for newborn and young babies and this woman is just one of many trying to get her medical degree. She has already taken the exam once, while eight months pregnant, and failed by a few points, so the pressure is mounting to take, and pass the test. Ms. Currier is scheduled to take the test today, and if she passes, already has an offer from Massachusetts General Hospital as one of their clinical pathology residents. She does research on dyslexia and attention deficit hyper activity disorder. Let’s hope for the best.