New York has joined California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island in enacting a paid family leave law. As is the case with the other three states, the New York law, which will be phased in starting in 2017 for large employers, creates a family leave fund that will be paid for through employee payroll taxes. By 2021, eligible employees in New York will have the right to 12 weeks of paid family leave, at 67% of their current pay, when caring for a new child or for a family member with a serious health condition.
In a related development, the city and county of San Francisco recently became the first jurisdiction in the United States to require employer-funded parental leave. The new ordinance, which goes into effect on January 1, 2017, for employers with 50 or more employees, requires employers that do business in the city to offer six weeks of fully paid parental leave to all eligible full and part-time employees. The measure is designed to close the gap created by the California paid family leave program, which provides new parents with six weeks of leave at 55% of their pay, by requiring city employers to cover the remaining 45% to ensure that employees receive full pay while on leave.
These recent state and local developments are indicative of a trend we have observed in recent years among paid leave advocates, driven in large part by Congressional inaction, to focus their efforts on receptive states and localities.
Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.