Paid Family Leave Around the Country

California, New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island have all enacted laws providing paid family leave to employees who need time off to care for a seriously ill family member or bond with a new child.  Paid family laws in these states is paid for through employee payroll deductions and pay from 50 to 70 percent of an employee’s weekly wage for six to eight weeks of leave. 

The District of Columbia has enacted a paid family leave ordinance, effective July 1, 2020, that will provide up to eight weeks of paid leave.  The paid leave will be funded by a payroll tax on employers.

Washington State passed a paid family leave bill in 2007, but the law was never implemented.  Two competing bills are currently before the Washington legislature, one providing 26 weeks of paid leave, the other providing 12 weeks of leave, to be effective, if passed, in 2023.  Seattle, Washington has also proposed a paid family leave ordinance that would grant employees 26 weeks of leave, paid at 100 percent of the employee’s wage, to care for an ill family member or bond with a new child.

San Francisco’s paid parental leave ordinance now requires employers with 20 or more employees to provide six weeks of supplemental compensation to employees receiving California paid family leave to bond with a new child.  The supplemental compensation must be an amount that, when added to the California paid family leave benefit, equals 100 percent of the employee’s weekly wage. 

Do you know how paid family leave laws will affect you and your employees?  Consult with the attorneys at myHRcounsel for up-to-the-minute advice on how to comply with the latest paid family leave laws and ordinances.