Legal Ease


Trump Pushes Paid Parental Leave Policy


By Richard D. Alaniz “M


y administration wants to work with members in both parties to make


childcare accessible and affordable, [and] to help ensure new parents have paid family leave….” President Trump announced this proposal during his first address to a joint session of Congress. It signals a substantial shift in paid leave in the United States.


During the presidential campaign,


Donald J. Trump made maternity leave a signature issue. Now that he is in the White House, Trump appears intent on pushing for paid leave for new parents who don’t receive time off from their employers. Trump originally announced a plan to implement maternity leave last September. His plan includes six weeks of paid maternity leave for women whose companies don’t offer paid time off. Trump’s first joint speech to Congress may indicate that the plan will also apply to all new parents, but he has yet to reveal a formal proposal with this change. With Trump’s renewed emphasis on the issue, employers should start to prepare now so they are ready for any new changes to federal laws.


Federal and State Laws that Impact Maternity Leave Currently, there are no federal laws that require paid maternity leave in the United States. However, there are several laws that impact pregnant employees, new parents and their employers. Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), eligible employees can take up to 12 workweeks of job-protected unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a son or daughter or to bond with a newborn or newly placed adopted son or daughter. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act,


26 ❘ April 2017 ®


an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, makes it illegal to discriminate against women based on pregnancy or related conditions. Under Section 7 of the Fair Labor


Standards Act, employers must provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for one year after the child’s birth.


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parental leave law and provides all new parents with 100 percent paid leave for six weeks. It took effect on Jan. 1 for companies with more than 50 employees. Next year, companies with 20 or more workers will need to comply.


A New Push for National Paid Maternity Leave


As the Trump administration pushes for sweeping changes in the regulatory landscape, including parental leave, employers should start planning.


Employers must also provide a place for nursing mothers, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public. Currently only California, New


Jersey, and Rhode Island provide some paid family leave to new parents. New York has similar legislation that will take effect in 2018. Other states, such as Oregon and Maine, provide unpaid leave for those who are not eligible to take time off under FMLA. Moreover, five states and the District of Columbia require employers to allow workers to earn paid sick days that can be used to care for a spouse or partner recovering from childbirth.


Arizona


and Washington will join these states on July 1, 2017 and January 1, 2018, respectively. Last year, San Francisco passed


what has been called the most generous maternity leave policy in the country. The law builds on California’s paid


Trump hasn’t yet submitted a proposal for paid parental leave to Congress. The plan Trump announced during his campaign guaranteed six weeks of paid maternity leave for mothers who have given birth and who don’t receive paid time off from their employers.


It did


not extend paid leave to fathers or to adoptive mothers. According to a report from CNN, the proposal would be part of a broader tax reform package and would cost $300 billion. Whether the Republican majority in Congress will be eager to pass Trump’s proposal remains to be seen. When Barack Obama called for laws offering paid maternity and sick leave in his 2015 State of the Union address, Congress failed to pass any legislation.


Next Steps


While the situation regarding paid parental leave remains unsettled, employers should take several steps so


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