On the 30th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act, Democrats renew push for paid leave

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act, which guarantees most workers 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for children, sick family members, or themselves, if they are sick.

The Family and Medical Leave Act, also known as FMLA, was passed in 1993 and was a revolutionary policy: Until then, workers had no guaranteed protection if they needed time off after having a baby or recovering from an illness. The law, however, still leaves out millions of workers, including part-time employees and those working in small businesses — a 2018 Labor Department survey found that 44 percent of workers were not covered. Many billing gaps still exist, and there is no paid leave program at the federal level.

There is some progress, however. In the years since the FMLA went into effect, 11 states and Washington, DC, have approved their own paid leave policies, and some states also offer more unpaid leave options. A higher proportion of workers than in 1993 also now have paid leave through their employer, and research from Health Affairs and the Women’s Policy Research Institute found that the program improved children’s health outcomes and increased women’s retention in the workforce.

Today, lawmakers are still pushing for a comprehensive federal bill on the issue, though the current state of divided government will make it difficult to do so. Last year, Congress failed to approve paid family and sick leave due to opposition from Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Republicans.

Functionally, the lack of a federal policy means a wide variety of policies that vary by state and employer. “Heck, even in the Senate, every Senate office is different,” said Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who recently introduced legislation to ensure that education support professionals, like bus drivers and janitorial staff, are left behind. FMLA, get covered.

Duckworth sat down with Vox to talk about the bill — and the state of paid and unpaid leave in the U.S., 30 years after the landmark passage of FMLA. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Li Zhou

Let’s start with the state of unpaid leave in the US today: Who has access to, and who is left out?

Sen. Tammy Duckworth

Currently, to qualify for FMLA, in a 12-month period, you must work 1,250 hours. So you think working full-time in a year, 2,000 hours is a good rule of thumb to go by. You must work 1,250 hours at your job, at this one job, in order to receive FMLA under that employer. I have introduced Educational Support [Professionals] The law, the ESP Law, because the people who work in the American education system, because it is a nine-month system, many workers never reach 1,250 hours with the school district.

He had to have two jobs: one job for nine months, and then another job for three months. And neither job can reach 1,250, so they are not eligible for FMLA. And who are these people, this is your school bus driver, the lunch girls, this is your school nurse.

Think about it during the pandemic, when our school nurses were on the front lines checking and testing all the kids for Covid so they could go back to class. But he himself does not qualify for unpaid FMLA if he is sick.

My bill would change the way we calculate FMLA to a percentage of the total hours worked during that work period, so that it would only be evaluated based on, in nine months, the total amount. working hours If he works full time at his job, say 1,500 hours, then for the qualification, 1,000, whatever. We will have a better formula for figuring out a person’s eligibility for FMLA. And in particular, to ensure that the educational support staff reaches the threshold of these qualifications.

Li Zhou

In general, who do you see not taking FMLA leave based on the factors currently used to determine who qualifies?

Sen. Duckworth

It is a person who works on various projects. Many families, especially single mothers, work two or three jobs to make ends meet. And because of that, because he wasn’t at one employer for a year, he couldn’t qualify, even if he worked more than 2,000 hours a year. And it becomes very difficult for them to qualify for FMLA.

[Editor’s note: Workers at businesses with fewer than 50 employees also aren’t guaranteed coverage under FMLA, and legislation has been introduced to address this issue, including the Job Protection Act from Rep. Lauren Underwood and Sen. Tina Smith.]

Li Zhou

When we think about paid leave, who is covered and how is it determined?

Sen. Duckworth

It depends on the employer, if the employer gives paid leave or not. And even in different parts of the government, you have different coverage. Heck, even in the Senate, every Senate office is different. So some Senate offices provide more coverage than others and have different rules than others. So, there is no consistency across the country and who is eligible for paid leave as it is considered a benefit of your job.

The FAMILY Act introduced by Sen. [Kirsten] Gillibrand, who has been a current co-sponsor for years, would solve this problem by creating an insurance program that would cost about $2 a week for employers and $2 a week for employees. And what will happen, you will pay. And if you need to take paid leave, you can be paid up to 80 percent of your salary depending on what you choose to pay under the insurance program.

So it’s like how you have health care, you can choose silver or gold or platinum plan, it will be the same kind where you can choose how many benefits you want to be able to get, what percentage of your salary you want to be able to draw if you need to go on leave, then you will pay into the program for that. And that would be a way to get paid family leave across the country for everyone, and not at taxpayer expense, because it would be between the worker and the employer.

Li Zhou

What do you see as the biggest obstacle to Congress passing an expansion to FMLA and something like the Family Act that would provide federal paid leave?

Sen. Duckworth

I think some of the opposition, traditionally, has been from business, who think it will cost too much money. But I will tell you that in states that have adopted paid leave, like California, when employers have surveyed, [an overwhelming proportion] has said, actually paid leave has benefited the company, and it didn’t cost me more money. And in fact, it’s a great tool to keep my employees engaged. And I got more than I paid for.

So in countries that are starting to adopt paid family leave, we’re seeing that it’s really well received. So you’re starting to see that opposition come down among businesses that used to say, “Oh, no, we don’t want to do that.” But now many have experienced it in some of these countries, they know the truth, it saves money, because I don’t have to retrain workers, I don’t lose workers. There’s a labor shortage right now, so it actually helps people to maintain themselves so they can take family leave.

Li Zhou

At this point, what is your strategy for getting legislation on this issue in a divided Congress?

Sen. Duckworth

It’s really just about talking to people, and I think it will be easier to explain this than before the pandemic. And I use that school nurse as an example. People know how important these support workers are to our children, and how important it is to keep our children safe.

And he also saw that there was a real shortage as many support staff were leaving the workforce in the education system. I understand that there is a shortage of school bus drivers everywhere, because many have to quit, because they can’t get FMLA during the pandemic. So they quit and look for other jobs, because they can’t take care of their families. So I think the results of not having protected education support workers have been very visible. So I think I can make a better case for my fellow Republicans.