Paid Parental Leave Scaled Back, Advances

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has approved a proposal (HR-5781) to provide paid parental leave to federal employees, although in the process it cut the amount that would be available under the plan from the originally proposed eight weeks to four weeks. The reduction came in response to questions about the potential costs to agencies, since in many cases agencies hire temporary workers or other replacements to fill in for employees who go out on parental leave. Backers argue that agencies already take such events into account in their budgeting but agreed to the change in hopes of gaining additional support; the 21-10 committee vote was largely along party lines. Proponents also contend that paid leave is increasingly common in other nations and among large U.S. companies and that it would be a good recruiting and retention tool for the government.