Federal Workers to Receive 12 Weeks Paid Parental Leave

Thanks to a new law, federal workers are about to receive 12 weeks of paid parental leave. The House passed the measure this week and it’s off to the Senate where it’s expected to pass. 

Currently, only one in five workers in the United States receives paid leave. Only eight states and the District of Columbia requires employers to offer paid leave for child care and elderly care as well. 

This new federal law would not allow paid leave for elderly care even though about 75% of workers currently use unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, for reasons beyond child care. 

The Realist Woman’s take:

Advocates of this law are pushing for all workers to receive paid leave as it is necessary for workers to take care of their families without having to worry about taking a financial sacrifice in order to do so.

Workers have lives outside of work and its vital that employers understand that. Women have babies, new parents need to take care of their babies and themselves, elderly people need care from their families, deaths in families take place everyday, and workers deserve to be able to take care of these life events without having to worry about their paychecks.

Politicians talk a good game about family, but if they really cared about families outside of their own, they would expand this law to caring for the elderly and sick family relatives.