H.R. 626 (sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney/Oversight and Government Reform Committee) passed the House by a vote of 258-154 last week.  Congresswoman Maloney is an advocate for federal employees to have paid parental leave. While this is not directly one of NCPA's Family Policy Center issues, it may mean the whole "leave" issue/debate will get traction which could include the private sector being mandated to do the same.

Currently, federal employees are guaranteed 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child.  HR 626 would allow federal employees to substitute 4 weeks of paid leave and expands coverage to foster children as well.  It is estimated by the Congressional Budget Office that this bill will cost roughly $1 billion over the next five years.  This bill pertains ONLY TO FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.  At a time when all families are struggling to find and keep jobs, should the private sector be asked to pick up the tab for a benefit that many of them do not have?  This bill now heads to the Senate. 

At the NCPA Family Policy Center we believe that families need greater flexibility to care for a new born child or take care of a sick relative.   But mandating leave whether it is in the private sector or public sector is the wrong way to go.  These federal government workers are paid by us-the tax payers! If 4 weeks of paid leave is such a good idea, why don't federal bureaucrats subsidize that right for regular workers?  Instead, taxpayers are subsidizing that new right for federal workers.   What say you?  Please post a comment.

Whether you work in the government, help at a non-profit or own your own small business – we are all looking for ways to balance the demands of work and family. Instead of creating new mandates for one sector of our economy, let's pass laws that work for working families. 

For example, right now only federal government employees have the ability to take additional time off in lieu of overtime pay, a benefit they have had for over three decades.  Doesn't it make more sense to say no to more mandates and give workers in all sectors of our economy, more flexible work arrangements?   Maybe we can convince Representative Maloney to help private sector hourly workers by giving them the choice between comp time in lieu of overtime pay. 

The same bill has been introduced in the United States Senate but no action has yet taken place, President Obama has indicated he supports the legislation.

2 Responses to “FEDERAL EMPLOYEES TO GET PAID PARENTAL LEAVE?”

1. Lisa Says:
   June 15th, 2009 at 8:27 am

   Here are my comments on the FMLA. Since we employ over 128 people, we would be subject to this mandate as it currently stands. The issues we face as the FMLA currently reads is that our unemployment rate increases due to the fact that we have to replace the person who goes out on FMLA and backfill his security post. We cannot use our existing employees to backfill simply b/c it would put them in overtime. Many of our contracts are FFP and you cannot bill out for OT. The only solution is to hire a new guard, train that guard, pay for their FP and clearance and then put them on the site for the 12 weeks that the individual is out. When that employee returns, we may or may not have another spot to place this guard in. This then becomes an unemployment nightmare for us and every other business out there who has to deal with this. To your point, the ability to use comp time vs OT payment is a great solution and that would obviate the need in the majority of the cases, of hiring a new person, spending the time to train and qualify them and not really be able to have a return on your investment since you cannot re-amortize your billing at that point.
   Anyway, hope that makes sense.

2. Lisa Dolan Says:
   June 15th, 2009 at 9:02 am

   While I agree that it is not fair to the taxpayers to subsidize this I think there is another more interesting component at work here. I beleive that there is a push to make government jobs more attractive than private sector. Private sector cannot compete with the benefits that the government gives whether it is health benefits, the vacation/sick/personal days, et al. The biggest upside to working in the private sector was knowing that your salary was substantially more. However now that it looks like they want to control what CEO’s can make, they are making it less and less attractive to work for private sector.

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