Debate Rages On Over Maternity (And Paternity) Leave
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would give federal employees four weeks of paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child. It’s not clear whether the bill will pass the Senate or get the President’s signature, but the bit of news still caught my eye, mainly because I’m planning a maternity leave of my own soon. (In fact, by the time you read this, I may be out the door.)
Observers of the bill have noted that the U.S. government is the country’s biggest employer and wondered if a paid family leave law would set a precedent that private employers might end up following. As of last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, just 9 percent of the country’s workers got any sort of paid family leave.
Pricey Benefit
Karen Smith, an attorney with the Employers Association of New England, which advises businesses about their HR policies, said there’s good reason for that. Particularly for small businesses, paid leave could be a budget-busting expense.
Still, she said, many employers do have their workers use whatever sick time, personal days or vacations they have accrued, giving them some income during unpaid family leaves, which are guaranteed for most workers under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Some companies also offer short-term disability insurance, which typically pays a percentage of a woman’s salary for five weeks of maternity leave.
Westborough accounting firm CCR LLP is one of the few companies that bucks the trend. For the past year, the firm has offered a paid maternity leave for its employees. Women on the short-term disability plan get paid the difference between that benefit and their full salary, and those that aren’t on the plan get an equivalent payment.
“It basically makes you whole for that time,” said Marla Beck, tax principal at CCR and head of the firm’s Women’s Initiative Group, which originally proposed the new policy.
Beck said the women who have taken advantage of the paid leave so far seem appreciative, and the firm hopes that will translate to a competitive advantage when it comes to hiring and retaining women.
“More and more women are in accounting,” she said. “Basically, we want them to continue working, so we’re hoping this is something that attracts them.”
No doubt such policies are a boon for women and a good way to draw more of them to a company. But the thing that I find most interesting about the federal bill is that — like the FMLA and unlike CCR’s policy — it applies to men as well as women.
Paid maternity leave may be a rarity, but the chance of finding paid paternity leave is even more unlikely. There are some good reasons for the difference: women often have a medical need for time off after childbirth, and if they’re breastfeeding they need time for that, too.
But there are plenty of other things that go into early parenting, and there are plenty of fathers who would be thankful for time off to do them.
And that could be a good thing for working mothers too, both in the short and long term. After all, dads who get early experience with their kids are probably more likely to take responsibility for their doctors’ appointments and daycare pickups long after both parents are back at work.
All of which makes me think that, despite not having paid family leave, my situation is a lucky one. Like many workers, I’ll be able to subsidize some of my 12-week FMLA leave with vacation and short-term disability pay.
And my husband, who worked from home part of the time after our first child was born, is now a teacher, with a final school day that happens to fall a day before my due date.
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