New York Just Passed America’s Best Paid Family Leave Law

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Monday signed into law the most generous paid family leave policy in the United States: up to 12 weeks paid time off for new parents, as well as for those who need to take care of a family member with a serious medical condition or to handle responsibilities if someone is called to active military service.

The policy was part of the state’s latest budget deal, which passed last week with bipartisan support.

Granted, it’s not that hard to earn the “generous” moniker in the U.S., the only developed country in the world that has no paid time off policy for new mothers. Just three other states actually have paid leave policies. California and New Jersey offer six weeks off; Rhode Island offers four weeks. Washington passed a paid leave law in 2007, but hasn’t implemented it yet.

New Yorkers like to go big, though. The new policy will phase in gradually. Beginning Jan. 1, 2018, workers can get up to eight weeks off, at 50 percent of their weekly pay — to a maximum of about $630, which is half of the average weekly pay in the state. By 2021, they’ll be able to get the full 12 weeks at two-thirds pay, as long as they have worked for their employer for at least six months.

All new parents are eligible — men, women, adoptive parents, foster parents.

The time off will be funded by a small weekly payroll tax of about $1 per employee. That was a key selling point: Businesses will not have to pay anything to give workers this much-needed benefit. Many companies say paid leave helps them retain employees, ultimately saving money that would be spent recruiting and training new workers.

President Barack Obama praised the state’s new law on Monday. “Americans shouldn’t need to choose between their families and making ends meet,” he said in a statement. “Thanks to Governor Cuomo’s and the state legislature’s leadership, New Yorkers will now move closer to never having to face that choice.”
Read More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-york-paid-family-leave_us_5702ae75e4b0daf53af042b7
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