Is America ready for mandated paid leave? Two federal bills say, ‘Yes!’

For many years, some members of Congress have supported federal laws that would entitle employees to paid leave. That trend continues with two new bills introduced this summer.

Paid vacation

On August 6, several senators introduced a bill that would require employers to provide paid annual time off to employees. The measure would cover employers with one or more employees for each working day during each of 20 or more calendar workweeks in the current or preceding year.

Under the Guaranteed Paid Vacation Act, employees would accrue at least 1 hour of paid annual time off for every 25 hours worked, for up to 2 weeks of paid vacation. It wouldn’t, however, run concurrently with leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

If the Act is passed into law, employees could use the paid time off for any reason (other than FMLA leave), while being paid at their standard rate of pay.

The law would also protect workers against discrimination for exercising their rights under the Act.

I-PLAN

Other members of Congress are also interested in paid leave, but under a different format.

On July 16, several senators introduced bipartisan legislation, the More Paid Leave for More Americans Act.

If passed into law, the measure would establish a competitive 3-year pilot grant program, administered by the Department of Labor, to states that enact a paid leave program meeting the following requirements:

• Provides a minimum of 6 weeks of leave for any qualifying reason (parental, medical, or caregiving);
• Is delivered by the state in partnership with a private entity, such as an insurance company or benefits administrator;
• Provides, depending on earnings, a minimum of 50–67 percent wage replacement, with benefits capped at 150 percent of the state’s average weekly wage; and
• Establish the Interstate Paid Leave Action Network (I-PLAN) to coordinate and harmonize paid leave benefits across participating states. This would benefit employers, states, and employees by facilitating streamlined benefit delivery and reducing administrative burdens.

States would receive a conforming grant between $1.5 and $8 million annually to participate in “good faith” in the I-PLAN.

States would also be eligible for implementation grants of between $1.5 and $8 million annually to help with costs associated with aligning their state paid leave program with the I-PLAN requirements, including administrative costs, technology, staffing and training, and outreach.

No need to worry yet

These bills have a slim chance of being enacted, but they illustrate a continuing effort on the part of Congressional members to change the way employers treat employee time off.