Paid Parental Leave Debated

The short-term disability insurance proposal was released just as the House federal workforce subcommittee held a hearing on the issue of whether federal employees should be made eligible for paid parental leave time. Under current policy, employees are eligible for unpaid leave of up to 12 weeks under the Family and Medical Leave Act for childbirth or adoption. A bill (HR-3977) offered by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., would grant paid leave for eight of the weeks under that act. An OPM official noted at the hearing that federal employees may use a variety of types of leave in addition to sick leave, including annual leave and shared leave, for parental purposes and said that few employers allow unlimited accumulation of sick leave, as the federal government does. However, supporters argue that many employees have only limited sick leave available due to short tenure or other reasons, that employees often can’t afford to take unpaid leave, and that paid parental leave would be a valuable recruiting and retention tool.