Workers taking paid family leave fight fear of stigma over absence

WORCESTER – Nearing the birth of his first child last May, Shawn Smith was racked by stress over whether to take advantage of his company's paid family leave plan.

Smith works at the Tennessee-based insurer Unum Group, which rolled out its parental leave program in 2018, available to new moms and dads during the 12 months after a birth, adoption or foster placement. Smith, 39, could receive six weeks of paid leave while staying at home with the baby as his wife, Erin, transitioned back to work after maternity leave.

On the surface, the decision to use the program would seem obvious, but Smith had recently accepted a promotion to vice president of benefit operations at Unum's office on Mercantile Street and worried whether his colleagues would question his work ethic. He struggled with what he perceived as a stigma around paternal leave.

Smith, who lives in North Grafton, ended up taking the leave, which, not surprisingly, relieved stress for his family. And he saw that any anxiety he felt had come not from his co-workers, but from within.

"It was incredibly important for myself and my family to have that time off, most importantly in easing any sort of financial burden that might have resulted from stepping away from work," he said in a phone interview. "I never experienced any stigma here at Unum. I think leadership has encouraged everyone to take full use of the program. Though I didn't experience the stigma at work, I think I caused a lot of it myself, because of the challenge it was for me to step away from work for that long."

In a little over a year, most new fathers and mothers in Massachusetts will have the same opportunity as Smith, thanks to the state's new paid family and medical leave program that Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law last year.

The state's program, to cost an estimated $800 million, will grant eligible employees up to 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a new child, whether born to the family or adopted. The program also covers workers tending to a sick family member or dealing with a family member's active military service.

The paid leave for a new child will not be available until Jan. 1, 2021. Meanwhile, workers started seeing the effect of paying for the program on their paychecks last month in the form of a 0.75% payroll tax. To cover the tax, both employees and employers contribute. Workers pay 38 cents for every $100 earned (to determine what that means for you, visit the state's online calculator, https://calculator.digital.mass.gov/pfml/contribution/). The state will decide each year depending on usage of the program whether that contribution percentage should go up or down.

Joe Bartulis, chair of the Employment Law Practice Group at Fletcher Tilton PC in Worcester, has been gauging employers' opinions on the law during recent employment law seminars the firm has hosted in Central Massachusetts and the MetroWest area. Their reactions, he said, have run the gamut from confusion to annoyance.

"If I were to characterize where people are, it's caught up in the confusion or uncertainty of what they need to do, the timing of when things go into effect; it's all the uncertainty of how the new law will be put into play and implemented," said Bartulis. "The other response you get from some employers is they see this as yet another thing they have to contribute towards another expense they will have to incur to operate in Massachusetts."

Unum has not looked at the new law in that light, though. Instead, it sees itself as a leader in promoting family leave.

"This is one of the things workers are really asking for," Steve Joseph, the senior vice president at Unum in charge of its Worcester operations, said in a phone interview. "We did a survey of over 1,000 U.S. workers that showed paid leave was one of the more desired perks; it outranked a lot of things, whether it was remote working options or other sabbaticals that we offer."

Like every other employer in the state, Unum has the option of opting out of the state's paid leave program. The company would have to show that it has a private plan equal to or better than the one the state provides in order to receive an exemption from the newly created Department of Family and Medical Leave.

"If an employer represents that it satisfies the criteria set forth in the application, the employer will receive a presumptive approval subject to audit by the department," Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development spokesman Charles Pearce said in an email. "There are two types of private plans: one offered through commercial insurance carriers and the other by the employer's demonstration of self-insurance. In the case of self-insurance, an employer must post a bond based on a contributions formula established by the department."

As of Oct. 31, Pearce said, the department has received more than 1,400 applications for an exemption from the state's family leave program. It has approved about 1,200 applications, of which 86% listed plans offered through commercial insurance carriers. The Boston Business Journal reported in September that several insurance companies are now offering alternatives to the state's program, including some that, in comparison, would save businesses money.

Unum, which has 600 employees in Massachusetts, hasn't decided whether it will apply for an exemption, nor is it certain it would receive one if it did. Unum's plan provides employees full pay during their leave; the state's plan pays workers 80% of their wages up to 50% of the state average weekly wage, then 50% of wages above that amount, with the maximum weekly benefit being $850. In the meantime, Unum and its employees must still contribute to the fund that will cover the state's plan.

When crafting its paid leave program, Unum looked at the full spectrum of paid-leave laws across the country, given that it has 10,000 employees in the U.S. and United Kingdom. Seven other states – California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Washington, Oregon and Rhode Island – and the District of Columbia have passed statewide paid family and medical leave programs.

"When we make decisions about our total rewards package, our suite of employee benefits, we broaden it out so that it will impact employees across all of our markets," said Unum spokeswoman Kelly Spencer in a phone interview. "We are taking into account state-by-state legislation and how we can work together for the maximum benefits of the employee."

Hannaford Supermarkets, which employs nearly 27,000 people in New England, also recently launched its own paid family leave plan ahead of Massachusetts' paid leave. Hannaford is offering six weeks of full paid leave in the 12 months after the birth, adoption or legal placement of a child.

"We listened to our associates when they told us what they want to help achieve well-being and balance in their lives, and this is one way we can advance our commitments to our associates," said Hannaford Vice President of Human Resources Margo Peffer in an email. "Extending care and support to our associates is really important to us and providing paid parental leave for our associates is one way to demonstrate that."

The supermarket chain will not be applying for an exemption, Peffer said. As of Sept. 1, fewer than 50 employees have enrolled in its family leave plan, but the company says many more already have indicated they plan to use it in the next three to nine months.

At Unum, more than 300 employees have used the family leave plan since it launched last year, 40% of whom were new fathers. "It was amazing to me to see all the dads that used it," Joseph said, recalling that the same benefit was not available to him when he became a new dad.

He was surprised, too, because he believes "a little bit of a stigma" exists in the workplace today around parents taking time off after a new child.

Last March, Unum conducted an online survey of 500 new parents – half of them fathers – finding that 37% of new dads feel there's a stigma in their workplace around new parents taking time off. And although 62% said their employer offers paid parental leave, 50% said they spent 30 days or fewer away from the workplace after the birth or adoption of a child. That stigma, the survey found, involves a fear of being passed over for a promotion or being looked down on for taking time off.

For Smith, the Unum vice president who recently took paid leave, his fears were with his co-workers seeing his taking time off as coasting. However, he said, they were supportive of his leave.

Smith and his wife staggered their leaves. She went on maternity leave after the birth of their son, Casey, while he continued to work.

"That allowed us to keep our son out of any kind of day care for as long as possible," he said. "And when my wife was transitioning back to work, it helped her to know I was home with him in the house."

That time spent with Casey was invaluable, Smith said. "It really gave me a chance to bond with my son; I saw him develop in so many ways at such a crucial stage in his life. Most importantly, it gave me peace of mind knowing that I was providing for my family and being a leader for my family, while the company was supporting me in doing that."

If paid leave had not been available to their family, Smith said, he believes his wife may have had to leave her job to stay at home full time with Casey.

"Think of the financial implications that has on a family – mortgage payments and everything," he said. "It gave her the opportunity to go back to work. I really think that's an important factor."

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