Skip to main content

Federal Workers Poised to Obtain Paid Parental Leave


Earlier this week, it was announced that Congress has apparently reached an agreement in which it will provide approximately 2.1 million federal employees with twelve weeks of paid parental leave.

This paid parental leave plan is included as part of the National Defense Authorization Act ("NDAA") (an annual bill that established budgets for the military.)  Interesting enough, the current version of the NDAA appears to have bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.  

Readers will likely recall that paid leave has been an ongoing battle for both Republicans and Democrats for years.  What changed here?  Well for starters, this paid leave would apply only to federal workers rather than private employers.  That makes it somewhat easier to push through without Republicans being concerned about how a paid leave bill would impact employers and Democrats being concerned about how a paid leave bill would be paid for.  As well, the apparent bipartisan approval for this version of the NDAA which includes the paid leave plan came about after a compromise was reached:  the NDAA would establish the Space Force in exchange for this paid leave plan being added.  In addition, these twelve weeks of paid leave would only cover parental leave for workers that have a new baby or adopt a child but not for those that need to care for a sick family member.  Again, this more narrow paid leave plan likely gives both Republicans and Democrats more ease...rather than being concerned with how it would impact employers, be paid for, etc.

There have been some critics that have called this paid leave plan too narrow, for the reasons noted above.  Is this paid leave plan perfect?  For many, the answer is a resounding no.  However, assuming this legislation passes, it is a step in the right direction for those clamoring for greater paid leave protections for workers across the country.  With apparent bipartisan support, the NDAA appears to have enough support to make it through Congress and to President Donald Trump's desk.  (President Trump even tweeted this morning urging Congress to finalize it so that he could sign off on the legislation.)



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum,...
Post a Comment
Read more

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations
Post a Comment
Read more

NLRB: Former Employee Cannot Be Barred From Work Premises After Filing Wage Suit

MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC - NLRB Facts :  MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC d/b/a Grand Sierra Resort & Casino ("GSR") operated a facility that included a hotel, casino, restaurant, clubs, bars, and a pool which were all open to the general public.  Tiffany Sargent ("Sargent") was briefly employed by GSR as a "beverage supervisor" in December of 2012.  After her employment ended, Sargent continued to socialize at one of the clubs.  GSR had a long standing practice of allowing former employees to patronize its facility and did not prohibit Sargent from doing so.  In June of 2013, Sargent and another employee filed a class and collective action against GSR for alleged unpaid wages, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Nevada law.  In July of 2014, GSR denied Sargent access to an event at one of the clubs.  GSR followed up with a letter and stated that with the on-going litigation (from the wage suit), it decided to bar Sargent from the premises. ...
1 comment
Read more