september2021 - 9

THE LABOR LAW ADVISOR
Paid Family and Medical Leave
Legislation Gains Popularity
RICHARD D. ALANIZ
Senior Partner
Alaniz Schraeder Linker Faris Mayes, L.L.P.
ralaniz@alaniz-schraeder.com
ON APRIL 28, 2021, in his first Presidential address to Congress, President Biden
announced his American Families Plan. President Biden intended it as a follow up to
the American Rescue Plan, which provided relief to families and communities impacted
by the Coronavirus pandemic. Among the elements in the plan is one calling for a paid
family and medical leave program. The Families Plan version of the paid leave takes
several of the elements of the Family Act, which was proposed by House Democrats
in 2019 but failed to reach a floor vote.
The currently proposed Families
Plan would provide paid leave
on a basis similar to the Family and
Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which
currently provides unpaid leave
of up to twelve weeks. The paid,
Families Plan would be a social
insurance model similar to those
implemented in several states, as
well as the District of Columbia.
Like the proposed Family Act, it
would be administered through
a new office to be known as the
Office of Paid Family and Medical
Leave within the Social Security
Administration.
Under the proposed plan,
most employees would receive at
least two-thirds of their average,
weekly wages, up to a maximum
of $4,000 per month. The lowest
wage earners would receive a
minimum of 80% of their average
weekly wages. The leave could be
used for the birth of a child, to treat
an employee's own serious illness,
to care for a sick family member,
to handle the military deployment
of a spouse or immediate family
member, and to address issues
related to sexual assault, stalking,
or domestic violence.
The amount of paid leave available
would gradually increase to
twelve weeks by the 10th year of
the program. Unlike the FMLA,
which only applies to employers
with 50 or more employees within
a 75-mile radius, the provisions
of the proposed plan would apply
to employers with 15 or more
employees.
Recently, more than eighty
Democrats in the House, including
several well-known progressives,
sent a letter to the White House
urging the Biden administration
to include paid family and medical
leave in the proposed infrastructure
bill. They see it as another
means of helping families recover
from the effects of the Coronavirus
pandemic.
While it was not included in the
infrastructure bill recently passed
by the Senate, as of this writing,
preliminary reports are that paid
family and medical leave will
be prepared as part of the pending,
2022 Budget Reconciliation.
However, the final version of the
legislation has yet to be prepared.
Given the numerous other social
safety net items that are being
discussed as possible inclusions,
it is difficult to predict whether or
not it will be included in the final
legislation.
Some form of a national, paid
family and medical leave program
is supported by a majority of U.S.
workers. One of the findings supporting
the proposed 2019 Family
Act was that such a program " has
the support of more than eight in
ten voters across demographic and
party lines. "
A Rasmussen poll taken shortly
before the Family Act was proposed
found that 51% of Americans
believe that the government should
require employers to provide
twelve weeks of paid family and
medical leave. Only 29% of those
responding disagreed. Even during
the Trump administration there
was discussion of some type of
paid family leave. It was reported
that President Trump supported a
six-week paid family leave requirement,
but it never developed into
a legislative proposal. In addition,
Ivanka Trump was a vocal advocate
for paid family leave and worked
with Senate Republicans to build
support for such a bill.
While paid family and medical
leave has had bipartisan support
for some time, it has yet to result
in legislation to be voted on. For
example, in 2018 Senator Marco
Rubio of Florida proposed a bill
that would permit parents
to
apply for at least two months of
paid leave, funded by a delay in
receipt of Social Security benefits.
The proposal made little progress
due to concern that utilizing Social
SEPTEMBER 2021 ■ www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
9
Security benefits would erode the
program and/or lead to the benefit's
use for other non-retirement
reasons.
At about the same time, Senators
Joni Ernst of Iowa and Mike Lee
of Utah joined in proposing a paid
leave bill similar to Senator Rubio's.
There was also a bipartisan paid
leave proposal from Democratic
Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona
and Republican Senator Bill Cassidy
of Louisiana. Also, as noted earlier,
House Democrats proposed the
Family Act in 2018, provisions of
which have been incorporated into
the current Families Plan.
There is no question that paid
family and medical leave remains
a popular benefit that a majority
of American workers support. In
fact, several states, generally those
with Democratic legislatures and
governors, have already adopted
some form of paid family leave.
It remains to be seen whether at
the federal level the priority that
Democrats have placed on the
issue will be sufficient to result in
legislation that can become law in
a sharply divided Congress. ■
http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
september2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of september2021
