Paid family leave becomes hot workplace issue

But the business community hasn’t exactly embraced these type of mandates with open arms, and Stark expects a battle to pass the legislation.

“Employers didn’t step up on Medicare or Social Security. We made them do it and now it’s part of the system,” he notes.

Indeed, some employers see the mandate as a potential threat.

“Anytime we as a country, or in the state setting, consider mandating benefits, I think the risk is employers not being able to meet or maintain those benefit or competitiveness,” says Kathie Elliott, assistant director of employee relations with Central Michigan State University.

Being a mother herself, Elliott understands the need to spend time with a newborn, but she says parents have months to plan before a child is born so they can save vacation days or set aside money for the time they want off.

One group refers to the Senate bill as the “dirty-diaper bill.”

“It looks really convenient on the outside but it gets messy on the inside,” says Brianna Cardiff, policy analyst for the National Taxpayers Union, who helped coin the “dirty-diaper” phrase.

Cardiff believes unforeseen problems could result.

The mandate would raise the cost of doing business, so companies could end up lowering wages to compensate, she says.

“It cuts down on a company’s flexibility and creativity," Cardiff says. "Some companies go above and beyond what’s typically mandated.”

Since California is the only state that has mandated paid family leave in place, I figured I should contact a business advocate there to see how the law has impacted companies.

“It wasn’t as dramatic an impact as a lot of people thought it would be,” says Mary Topliff, an employment law attorney in San Francisco. “It’s been fairly seamless for a lot of people.”

The paid leave program in the Golden State piggybacks on the state’s disability program and is 100 percent funded by the employees themselves at an annual average cost of about $47 depending on salary.  Californians who take advantage of the program get 55 percent of their pay while on family leave.

No matter what the ultimate structure, calls for paid leave are likely to intensify, especially with the graying of the population.

Walt Yost, a reporter for the Sacramento Bee, found himself taking advantage of California paid leave law after his father was diagnosed with dementia three years ago.

“He was taking care of my mom who didn’t drive and was dependent on him,” he says.

Yost ended up depleting much of his vacation time as he and his brother took time off to care for their parents.

He went to his human resource department and found out about the paid leave option and was able to take up to 30 days during a 12-month period to help out his parents.

“I was going to take the time regardless, but it took some of the financial pressure off,” he says.

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