Of those who did use it, 96 percent said it was on the birth of a child and 2 percent each for adoption or foster placement. Image: Vitalii Vodolazskyi/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThis year’s version of the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey provided the first data collection on the use of paid parental leave, which took effect 24 months ago, showing that 4 percent of employees took at least some of that time over the last year.
The authority allows employees to take up to 12 weeks of leave at their regular pay rates in situations where the Family and Medical Leave Act previously allowed only unpaid leave, on the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child. The level of the potential use of paid leave—and therefore the cost to the government—was a major issue as creation of that benefit was considered for many years, with the authority ultimately enacted as an amendment to a defense spending bill as part of a political tradeoff between Democratic sponsors and the then-Trump administration.
The survey showed that those who didn’t take that leave, 93 percent said it was because they didn’t have a qualifying life event, and 1 percent each said they were not aware of the benefit, chose not to use it or were not eligible for it.
Of those who did use it, 96 percent said it was on the birth of a child and 2 percent each for adoption or foster placement. Also among them, 81 percent used the full 12 weeks and another 9 percent used between 8 and 11 weeks.
In response to a question asking why someone took less than the full amount, which allowed for naming more than one reason, the most commonly cited, by 57 percent, was that they did not feel they could be away from their job responsibilities that long. Twenty-nine percent cited the related reason of concern about the impact on their career advancement, and a same percentage said they did not need to use the full 12 weeks. (Using paid parental leave time reduces the available unpaid time per year under the FMLA for other purposes, such as certain personal or family health conditions.)
Fifteen percent said they did not feel their supervisors supported them being out on paid leave while 13 percent said the same of their coworkers.
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