There is no federal law in the United States mandating paid maternity or parental leave. Currently, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides for 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave for the birth or adoption of a child or the placement of a child in foster care. Employees are eligible to take FMLA leave if they have been with your company for at least 12 months, worked a minimum of 1,250 hours during the previous 12 months, and work at a location where your company employs at least 50 people within a 75-mile radius. The time away from work is unpaid, but companies must continue to provide an employee with the same health insurance benefits during his leave and must place the employee in either the same position or a position with equivalent pay and benefits upon his return to work. 
State-paid leave
The FMLA allows states to expand beyond the minimum federal requirements for paid parental leave, and 11 states and the District of Columbia have implemented laws that go above and beyond federal law: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. Of those states, only three—California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island—provide any type of paid parental leave.
In California, eligible employees may take up to six weeks of paid leave. Employees don’t receive 100% of their normal income during their leave but are paid approximately 55% of their regular income. Along similar lines, employees in New Jersey can receive up to two-thirds of their regular pay for six weeks. In Rhode Island, employees receive a benefit ranging from $72 to $752 per week based on their regular earnings.
International standard
Besides the United States, the only other countries in the world with no government-mandated paid maternity leave are Lesotho, Papua New Guinea, and Swaziland. A few examples of other countries with some level of national paid leave for new parents include the United Kingdom, with up to 40 weeks of leave; Australia, with up to 18 weeks of leave; Brazil, with up to 17 weeks of leave; and Saudi Arabia, with up to 10 weeks of leave.
It can be very difficult financially for employees to take unpaid time off after the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Advocates of paid leave point to data that suggest paid leave benefits society by leading to lower rates of infant and child mortality, increased rates of breastfeeding, improved cognitive development in children, and parents (particularly mothers) remaining active in the workforce and not becoming dependent on state and federal assistance programs.
People who are wary of federally mandated paid leave often argue that it infringes on the rights of business owners to make their own decisions about which benefits to offer employees. In particular, increased long-term absences could have a detrimental impact on the operations of small businesses.
Public support in United States
Public support for paid parental leave laws has increased in recent years. One poll in January 2015 estimated that approximately 81% of the country—91% of Democrats, 80% of Independents, and 65% of Republicans—have favorable views of such policies. With mounting public interest in and support for paid parental leave laws, the issue could continue to gain traction in national politics and come to fruition as law in the next couple of years.
Kelly Boehner is a labor analyst for F&H Solutions Group. She can be reached at kboehner@fhsolutionsgroup.com.
Need to learn more? Do you offer paid sick leave to your employees? Soon, you may not have a choice. Mandated paid sick leave is gaining support and many state laws are already in effect requiring employers to provide paid time off to address employees’ and their family members’ medical issues. National paid sick leave legislation is also pending before Congress in the form of the Healthy Families Act, legislation that would grant many employees seven days of paid sick leave annually. With the clear push to provide paid sick leave and, in some cases, paid family leave, gaining strength nationwide, now is the time to ensure that your PTO policy is properly administered. Join BLR February 26 for the in-depth webinar Paid Sick & Family Leave: A Guide to Managing PTO in Compliance with New Employee Protections, presented by labor and employment law attorneys, on how the recent developments related to paid sick leave affect your daily operations and workplace policies, and learn best practices for administering PTO, from accurately accounting for partial day absences to instituting vacation time caps. For more information, click here.
Insightful piece, keep the good stuff coming HR Hero!