Dive Brief:
- With the Democratic convention around the corner, paid family leave will likely make it into the candidate's acceptance speech and get more public exposure, according to Terri L. Rhodes, president and CEO of the Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC). But will it ever become a federal mandate?
- Writing for The Hill, Rhodes offered a snapshot look at paid leave laws and private employer policies passed or implemented in the past year, and claims a single federal paid leave program could be the right way to go.
- Rhodes also pointed to the potential of a federal paid leave law, which would "level the playing field" between large and small employers. Along those lines, her hope is the nation might see small employers pushing for a single paid leave mandate to standardize leave laws across the board.
Dive Insight:
Rhodes mentioned both New York and San Francisco. New York became the fifth state to mandate paid leave, but even more importantly, New York’s new law, which takes effect January 1, 2018 (and phases in by 2021), eliminates many exceptions found in similar laws, and small businesses are not exempt.
San Francisco, meanwhile, became the first major city to pass a parental leave law, which phases in more quickly than New York’s. Starting in January 2018, it will cover all employers that regularly employ twenty or more individuals if any of those persons are regularly employed in San Francisco.
Private employers are also making progress, Rhodes notes, citing Twitter (20 weeks of paid parental leave) and several other employers who are now offering 16 weeks of paid leave or paid parental leave.
