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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.)



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