AFL-CIO Issues Public Comment on Labor Department Notice
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The
The
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One of the important issues that is often is addressed in the collective bargaining agreements that are negotiated by our affiliates and their locals is paid leave to allow workers to have paid time off to address their own serious health issues and the needs of their family members. Workers should never be placed in the impossible choice of caring for their families and themselves or maintaining their jobs and economic security. Often these collective bargaining agreements achieve benefits which are more generous and more supportive than even those provided currently in certain state or municipal programs. We support publicly run programs as discussed below for the broadest coverage but want to ensure that those programs provide a base upon which better benefits can be negotiated, not a ceiling.
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Although it is not mentioned in the
I. Paid Family and Medical Leave Must Work for
At some point in their lives, nearly every working person will welcome a new child, deal with their own serious health issue or need to provide care to a seriously ill, injured or disabled loved one. Yet despite progress, most people still do not have the security they need to take time away from their jobs. Millions of people are forced to choose between their wages and their ability to care for themselves or their families. Just 19 percent of the workforce has paid family leave through their employers, and only 40 percent has personal medical leave through an employer-provided disability program./1
Among the minority of workers who do have coverage for personal medical leave through an employer's short-term disability insurance program, 70 percent receive 60 percent of their typical wages or less./2
The reality is especially stark for people of color and low-wage workers, who face the greatest disparities in their ability to access and afford leave. The lack of paid leave costs
As noted above, the collective bargaining agreements negotiated by our affiliate unions and their locals often provide better benefits in this area than what may be required by state law or local ordinance. In the private sector, union workers are more likely than their non-union counterparts to have access to paid sick leave, by 86% to 72%./4
Evidence from the states with paid leave programs has shown that in order to truly meet the needs of working people, a paid family and medical leave program must meet certain basic standards. It must be comprehensive by covering all workers regardless of their job or employer and allowing leave for all FMLA-covered events, particularly as our nation ages and the shortage of paid caregivers means more working people are called upon to care for their family members. It must provide the same amount of leave regardless of a worker's gender. It must replace individuals' wages at an adequate level so that people can actually afford to take time off, as well as a meaningful duration of leave, so that people have enough time to meet their family or medical needs. It must allow leave to care for an inclusive range of family members in order to adequately reflect the way our families really look - particularly for families of color, immigrant families, and the LGBTQ community. It must guarantee job protection so that people can take the time off they need without having to worry if their job will still be there for them when they return. And it must be funded affordably and sustainably, without cutting other essential programs that working people need.
In addition, the
All nine states (including the
In 2016, AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer
In that survey, 59% reported being the primary breadwinner in their household, providing anywhere from 51% to 100% of the income. One of the top 5 barriers to economic stability cited was lack of control over work schedule or an unpredictable work schedule. In addition, the survey also reflected high demands on time outside of their work schedules for caregiving responsibilities. 25% devoted 30 hours a week to caregiving responsibilities and 44% cared for one or more children. Putting these numbers together paints a clear picture that women workers need to have paid leave available to balance their responsibilities both as caregivers and primary wage earners in many cases and the lack of such leave put all workers in the difficult position of needing to provide care for family members, while risking economic security. The survey confirmed that union members are more likely to have paid family medical leave and paid sick leave than non-union workers.
The recent events during the COVID-19 pandemic have made clear the heartbreaking impact of the lack of paid leave available to many low wage workers who have been faced during the pandemic with the impossible choice of risking their own or their family members' health or risking their jobs because they lacked paid leave options. Substantial exposure and numerous deaths amongst essential workers, particularly in low wage industries such as nursing homes, meatpacking plants, distribution centers and grocery stores, and stories of workers who were fearful of losing their jobs if they stayed home despite experiencing symptoms, provide a stark picture of why paid sick leave is critical (as is protection against retaliation for utilizing such leave).
II. A Publicly Run Paid Leave Program Is the Best Option for Workers and Businesses
Paid family and medical leave has been shown to reap significant benefits for employers in the forms of worker retention, productivity, loyalty, morale, and competitiveness. As a testament to these benefits, over the past few years, over one hundred large brand-name businesses have introduced or expanded their paid leave policies to recognize the needs of their workforce and the benefits to their bottom line. Yet even with these developments, access to paid leave remains critically low, and has improved at a glacial pace for the majority of workers. Nationwide, only 18 percent of private sector workers have access to paid family leave through their employers, and only 42 percent have employer-provided short-term disability insurance. These numbers become even more dismal when exploring workers with the lowest wages, part-time workers, and small business employees - the very workers who would benefit the most from paid leave. In fact, access to paid family leave for the lowest-income workers has increased by just 2 percentage points in the last 7 years, to a paltry 5 percent in 2019,/7 even after the enactment in 2017 of tax credits intended to incentivize employers to offer paid leave. These low access rates and minimal progress prove that private sector policies alone are insufficient to solve our nation's paid leave crisis. Too few businesses are adopting paid leave policies, and those that do often limit access to only their highest paid, white collar employees.
Fortunately, a more universal model already exists and is proven to work. Nine states, including the
Under this model, employees and/or employers contribute a small percentage of wages into a public fund, out of which benefits are paid as a percentage of an employee's wages. This ensures that employees can access leave regardless of their employer, position, or part-time/full-time status - meaning that the workers most in need of leave can access it. It also eliminates employers' large up-front costs of providing paid leave out of their own pockets - especially important for small businesses, who otherwise might not be able to afford this benefit, making it harder to compete with large businesses for the best employees. Polls of small businesses repeatedly demonstrate overwhelming support for a national paid leave policy structured as social insurance, and hundreds of small businesses have endorsed federal paid family and medical leave legislation. Advocates and policymakers have learned a great deal about how to structure and deliver benefits to improve utilization of paid leave programs, especially among lower-wage workers - and these lessons (along with private sector best practices) play critically important roles as new public programs are developed and implemented.
Publicly administered paid leave programs are meant to create baseline benefits that employers are free to build upon. For example, employers can "top-up" paid leave benefits provided through a public plan to replace more or all of their workers' wages and they can offer a longer period of leave. As a national paid leave system is developed, employers and insurers could work together to create products that fulfill the needs of workers and employers while ensuring an affordable, inclusive baseline program for all workers. As noted earlier, often union negotiated collective bargaining agreements contain better benefits over and above what may be mandated by law in the states and municipalities that have enacted some form of paid leave benefits. It is critical in any paid leave program contemplated, that that program provide a base upon which employers and unions can build and negotiate better coverage. While opponents of publicly provided and administered paid leave often claim some workers will lose better benefits that they currently have if a public program is implemented, there is absolutely no evidence from states that this has happened. The incentives that high-road employers have to use paid leave as a recruitment and retention tool will remain as it is now and the insurance market will adjust.
III. Research Demonstrates the Clear Benefits of Public Paid Leave Programs for Workers and Businesses
Research from these programs has demonstrated that working families with paid leave are more economically secure and more able to manage work and family responsibilities. Parents in
State paid leave programs improve the labor force participation of family caregivers,/9 reduce the likelihood that new mothers will fall into poverty,/10 and increase household incomes./11
The research also shows wide-ranging impacts on public health When workers do not have the leave they need -- most often because they could not afford unpaid leave -- they may defer or forego necessary medical treatment./12
Paid medical leave has been shown to help cancer patients manage their treatment and side effects./13
For babies and young children, paid leave provides time to establish a strong bond with parents during the first months of life, increases rates and duration of breastfeeding,/14 supports fathers' involvement in care,/15 improves rates of on-time vaccination,/16 reduces infant hospital admissions,/17 and reduces probabilities of having ADHD, hearing problems or recurrent ear infections./18
Paid leave may also help prevent child maltreatment by reducing risk factors, such as family and maternal stress and depression./19
Paid leave reduces the odds of a new mother experiencing symptoms of postpartum depression/20 and is associated with improvements in new mothers' health./21
In
Meanwhile, employers have adapted well to state paid leave programs. The vast majority of
In
Just one year after implementation of
Additionally, state paid leave programs provide a model that works for small businesses. The majority of small business owners support the creation of family and medical leave insurance programs at the state and federal levels, as these programs make the benefit affordable, reduce business costs, increase their competitiveness and can allow small business owners themselves to take paid leave when the need arises./27
In
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Finally, paid leave boosts employee morale and reduces costly turnover. In
Firm-level analysis of employers in
Workers in lower quality jobs who used the state paid leave program reported returning to work nearly 10 percent more than workers who did not use the program./32
Women who take a paid leave are 93 percent more likely to be in the workforce nine to 12 months after giving birth than women who take no leave./33
In multiple studies,
The evidence is overwhelming: paid leave is a win-win for workers and businesses, and the most equitable, sustainable model for paid leave is a national, publicly run social insurance program that builds on the innovation that states have pioneered. The
We appreciate the opportunity to submit this comment. If you have any questions, please contact
Sincerely,
Associate General Counsel
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Footnotes:
1/
2/ Ibid., Table 25.
3/ Glynn, S. J. (2020,
4/ EPI, Workplace Blog,
5/ Brown, S., Herr, J., Roy, R., & Klerman, J. A. (2020, July). Employee and Worksite Perspectives of the Family and Medical Leave Act: Supplemental Results from the 2018 Surveys (Exhibit B4-3). Retrieved
6/
7/ See note 1;
8/ Appelbaum, E., & Milkman, R. (2013). Unfinished Business: Paid Family Leave in
9/ Saad-Lessler, J., & Bahn, K. (2017,
10/ Stanczyk, A. (2019). Does Paid Family Leave Improve Household Economic Security Following a Birth? Evidence from
11/ Ibid.
12/ See Brown, S., Herr, J., Roy, R., & Klerman, J. A. (2020, July). Employee and Worksite Perspectives of the Family and Medical Leave Act: Results from the 2018 Surveys, pp. 45-46. Retrieved
13/ Harrington, E., & McInturff, B. (2017). Key Findings -- National Surveys of Cancer Patients, Survivors, and Caregivers. American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Publication. Retrieved
14/ Hamad, R., Modrek, S., & White, J. S. (2019). Paid Family Leave Effects on Breastfeeding: A Quasi-Experimental Study of US Policies.
15/ Lamb, M. (2004). The role of the father in child development, 4th ed. (pp. 1-18, 309-313).
16/ Choudhury, A. R., & Polachek, S. W. (2019, July). The Impact of Paid Family Leave on the Timing of Infant Vaccinations.
17/ Pihl, A. M., & Basso, G. (2018).
18/ Lichtman-Sadot, S., &
19/ Klevens, J., Luo, F., Xu, L., Peterson, C., Latzman, N. (2016). Paid family leave's effect on hospital admissions for pediatric abusive head trauma. Injury Prevention. 22, 442-445. DOI: 10.1136/injuryprev-2015-041702
20/ Chatterji, P., &
21/ Pal, I. (2016). Work, Family and Social Policy in
22/ Arora, K., & Wolf, D. A. (2017,
23/ Appelbaum, E., & Milkman, R. (2013). Unfinished Business: Paid Family Leave in
24/ Redmond, J., & Fkiaras, E. (2010, January).
25/ Ramirez, M. (2012). The Impact of Paid Family Leave on New Jersey Businesses.
26/
27/ Rouzer, S. (2017,
28/ Appelbaum, E., & Milkman, R. (2013). Unfinished Business: Paid Family Leave in
29/ Ramirez, M. (2012). The Impact of Paid Family Leave on New Jersey Businesses.
30/ Appelbaum, E., & Milkman, R. (2013). Unfinished Business: Paid Family Leave in
31/ Bedard, K., & Rossin-Slater, M. (2016,
32/ Appelbaum, E., & Milkman, R. (2013). Unfinished Business: Paid Family Leave in
33/ Houser, L., & Vartanian, T. P. (2012, January). Pay Matters: The Positive Economic Impacts of Paid Family Leave for Families, Businesses and the Public.
34/ Lerner, S., & Appelbaum, E. (2014, June). Business As Usual: New Jersey Employers' Experiences with
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The notice can be viewed at: https://beta.regulations.gov/document/DOL-2020-0004-0001
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