Leave Without Losing Money
Workers are parents, daughters, sons, sisters and brothers.
While a federal law, known as Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), recognizes these personal roles sometimes require extended time off to care for a newborn or ill relative, there’s a movement afoot to make leave a more practical option.
Enacted in 1993, the FMLA provides a guarantee of up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, to certain workers, like those that work for a firm with at least 50 employees.
“The number one reason people can’t use FMLA is that they can’t afford unpaid leave,” says Vicki Shabo of the National Partnership for Women and Families, Washington, D.C.
Currently, three states – California, New Jersey and Rhode Island – have laws mandating at least some paid leave, she notes, and some municipalities, like San Francisco, have added leave mandates.
Many employers are beginning to offer paid leave on their own, says Cassidy Solis, senior advisor of workplace flexibility, Society for Human Resource Management, Alexandria, Va.
“It’s one of the top three benefits that employees value, along with health insurance and flexibility,” Solis says.
Paid leave offered by companies in order to attract and keep workers is usually geared toward new parents, and U.S. Labor Dept. stats show about 14 percent of all U.S. workers have access to paid leave, Shabo says.
Those that want paid leave can try to work for companies that offer the benefit, which “will probably be listed on the career section of the company’s website,” Solis says.
It’s best to look for the benefit rather than ask about it in an initial interview, since applicants “could fear that it looks like they won’t be committed to the job,” says Kate Bischoff of tHRive Law and Consulting, Minneapolis.
It’ s likely that somewhere along the interview process, though, a firm offering paid leave will “advertise it and share it with applicants because it is an important recruitment and training tool,” Bischoff says.
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