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New York State and San Francisco Pass Paid Leave Laws


Earlier this week, it was announced that New York State and San Francisco both passed laws that will provide paid leave for workers in the state and city.  Given the increased attention that paid sick leave laws have gotten the past several months (in particular by both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton who are campaigning for the Democratic nomination for President), this is a huge development.

In New York, the paid sick leave law will compensate parents for up to twelve weeks of leave.  With the approval of this paid leave law, New York becomes the fourth state in the U.S. to implement some form of paid leave to workers in the state.  (Note, the approval of this paid leave law was included in part of the budget deal that included a rise in the state's minimum wage).  Under this paid leave policy, it will begin to be implemented in 2018 and cover 50% of a worker's average wages for up to 8 weeks.  When fully implemented, the policy will cover 67% of a worker's average wages for up to 12 weeks.  It is important to note, however, that New York will impose a cap on the money paid out to workers each week and the leave payments in this case would be funded by an employee payroll reduction.

In San Francisco, employers will be required to provide workers with six weeks of fully paid parental leave.  San Francisco has become the first U.S. city to approve this type of measure.  Note, the measure was approved by the city's board of supervisors and is awaiting approval from Mayor Ed Lee.  This paid leave law will coincide with California's existing parental leave policy (which currently covers 55% of a new parent's income during his/her leave).  This measure will require employers to pay the remaining 45% of en employee's income.

As expected, business leaders and business groups in both New York and San Francisco have been vocal in their opposition to these new laws.  As opponents of the expanded paid leave laws have argued, these new measures hurt small businesses and prohibit growth in the private sector as a result of an increase in costs passed on to the employer.  

With that being said, even in light of the opposition to these paid leave laws, New York and San Francisco have made major headlines with the approval of these measures.  The only question now is which state and/or city follows their lead?




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