White House Paid Family Leave Initiative

Today, the White House announced a set of new initiatives to expand paid family leave. Among the plans:

• Healthy Families Act: proposed legislation that would require employers to allow employees to earn up to 7 days of paid sick leave per year.
• A start-up fund to help states create their own paid leave plans for their employees.
• Improved data collection through the Department of Labor.
• Proposed legislation to create paid parental leave for federal employees.
• Expanding coverage of FMLA.
• Expanding tax credits and federal funding for child care costs.
• Increased funding for family care for elderly and disabled family members.
• Improving enforcement of equal pay laws

This is an aggressive set of proposals, some of which are obvious nonstarters in the current Congress.  It's nice to see the President bringing attention to the issue though; however, I'd like more emphasis in the press on the limits of the FMLA that currently exists.  For instance, few people seem to realize that it only applies to employers with 50 or more employees.

-JH