As the New York Times explains, the state of California now provides six weeks of leave with 55 percent pay-much more than most Americans are guaranteed-“paid for by employee-financed public disability insurance”. The announcement comes on the heels of the state of NY approving up to 12 weeks of paid time off for new parents.
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California is just one of just three states – including New Jersey and Rhode Island – that offer paid parental leave for workers.
Proponents of the law say it’s necessary in San Francisco because the city’s cost of living and competitive job market pose significant challenges for workers who want to spend time with their new baby, but simply can’t afford to lose income. Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law Monday that would progressively raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2022. Netflix Inc provides up to a year paid, while Facebook Inc provides four months and Microsoft Corp offers eight weeks. Small businesses with less than 20 employees will not be mandated to fully cover parental leave. Some have pointed to the influence of Silicon Valley tech giants’ recent trend of enacting generous parental leave policies.
San Francisco’s decision, however, represents a major boon for often marginalized groups that haven’t been able to take advantage of such changes. Under San Francisco’s new law, employers will cover the 45% difference.
“These workers are the least likely to have access to employer-provided paid parental leave and they struggle the most with taking a pay cut to stay at home and bond with their child”, Wiener said.
The legislation will come into effect from January 2017 for organisations with 50 employees or more, and from July 2017 for firms that employ 35-49 members of staff. For businesses with 20-34 employees, the legislation will come into force from January 2018. Employees will have 70 cents deducted per week (and eventually $1.40) that will be put into an insurance fund to pay for the leave.
San Francisco will become the first city in the nation to offer a full six-week-paid parental leave.
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“We are in the most expensive place to do business, and that’s all we’ve got”. Other San Francisco business associations opposed the law, with one calling it “unfair”. “I do think employers should be pitching in more”, said Kim Turner, a San Francisco nonprofit attorney who advocated for the law. San Francisco cheered its higher minimum wage as a way to fight poverty, but residents should note that this higher minimum wage also meant fewer entry-level positions.
