The United States does not have a national paid family and medical leave policy, however, both Republican and Democratic leaders have agreed that these Paid Leave benefits are important to the American people. To encourage public adoption of these benefits, the federal government extended the tax credit for businesses that choose to offer paid FMLA programs. In addition, starting in October 2020, the federal government will be expanding Paid Leave benefits to Federal workers. More information on these programs are explained below.
Proposed Federal Programs
Both the Democrats and Republicans have proposed federal programs that offer paid family leaves. Democrats would like to see a program similar to Social Security with a shared employee and employer tax (i.e. Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act). Republican plans look to delay the start of Social Security retirement benefits by any time taken to bond with their children (i.e. New Parents Act). In 2019, a bipartisan group recommended a hybrid proposal that would allow new parents to accelerate a portion of their child tax credit for immediate pay following the birth of a child. In exchange, the credit would be reduced over the following decade (i.e. ‘Paid Family Leave’ bill).
Even if a nationwide paid family and medical leave benefit is passed into law, it may not preempt state and local leave laws offering similar benefits. It may be similar to the federal unpaid FMLA law and the multiple states who have passed similar Family Leave Acts mandating job protections for employees who need leave. There is no doubt that Paid Family and Medical leaves will continue to be the topic of compliance conversations in the upcoming years.
As of March 1, 2020
