Paid Family Leave Achieving Results in States

In states and at the federal level the battle for basic rights for workers goes on. Legislation to enact paid sick leave did not make it out of the Maryland General Assembly this year, and paid family leave seems unlikely to pass at the national level in the near future. But the experience so far on California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island implementing variations on legislation requiring employers to allow workers to earn paid time off to tend to either their own health or that of their family suggests that we ought to try again next year in Maryland.

Letting employees take paid time off to tend to their own health or that of a family member would not only benefit the 709,400 private-sector workers and 57,800 public employees in the state who lack access to paid sick days, but would also provide a boost to Maryland’s economy as a whole, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. When sick workers can  take time off to get well, emergency room visits decline, saving taxpayers money. Meanwhile, their co-workers and customers are not exposed to illness.

But, lawmakers in need of convincing can look at more than studies. The  real experience of states that already require employers to provide paid sick leave to their workers is enlightening, as documented by a recent story in the Washington Post.

Following passage of paid family leave legislation in California in 2002, mothers of children between the age of 1 and 3 began to work more hours, for more money. And although paid family leave was originally opposed by much of the business community in California prior to enactment, a recent survey of found that 89 percent of companies in California now feel paid sick leave has had either a positive effect or no effect at all on their business.

Meanwhile, after New Jersey enacted paid family leave in 2009, parents were able to spend more time with newborn children and care for ill family members. At the beginning of this year, workers in Rhode Island were also able to earn paid sick leave.

In advance of the 2014 legislative session, advocates and workers should continue to push lawmakers to enact paid family leave in the state. In addition to benefiting the state’s workers and economy, enacting paid sick leave would allow Maryland to lead on an issue that is gaining attention from lawmakers at the national level.