Most American Workers Still Pay The Price Of No Paid Parental Leave

Dallas Employment Lawyer

The country's two million government employees will gain 12 weeks of paid parental leave as part of a defense bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on Friday. But it still leaves about 80% of U.S. workers in the private sector with no access to paid family leave. 

The U.S. is one of only a handful of western countries that lacks a federal policy, at least for new mothers, leaving employers to decide whether to offer it. Disproportionately, paid leave has gone to higher-paid white collar workers.

From CBS article:

Just 9% of wage earners in the bottom 25% have access to paid family leave, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That compares to 30% of wage earners in the top 25%.

Low-wage earners without paid leave can struggle after the birth of a child, especially if there are complications. Take Nancy Glynn, a waitress in Manchester, New Hampshire who could not afford a funeral for her newborn son who died after a premature birth.

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Even under the policy passed by Congress for federal workers, there are still gaps in coverage. For instance, federal workers do not get paid leave for their own serious illness or to care for a sick relative. More than 70% of the time, those are the reasons workers take time off under the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, which only guarantees unpaid leave.