Paid Family Leave

Along with the COVID-19 pandemic, three recent developments have pushed the debate forward: 1) the increasing patchwork of state and local paid leave law requirements; 2) the new paid family leave benefit for federal government employees, which began in 2021; and 3) the paid family and sick leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

• Although the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) requires employers with at least 50 employees to provide employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period, preCOVID-19, no federal law required private-sector employers to provide paid leave of any kind.
• As part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, employers can claim tax credits for voluntarily offering at least two weeks of paid leave to their employees, a subsidy designed to cover up to 25 percent of the cost of employers providing paid family and medical leave.
• The FFCRA established a refundable tax credit for the mandated paid sick leave and family leave for private-sector employers with under 500 employees. The FFCRA’s mandatory paid leave provisions expired on Dec. 31, 2020, however, Congress extended the tax credit for covered employers who voluntarily provide leave.
• Lawmakers have also proposed to:
  • Reinstate the requirements for employers to provide paid leave and expand coverage to virtually all employers.
  • Expand paid sick and family medical leave to 14 weeks for the same reasons included in the FFCRA, including time off to cover inoculations. • Provide a maximum paid leave benefit of $1,400 per-week for eligible workers.
  • Reimburse employers with fewer than 500 employees for the full cost of the leave by extending the tax credits.
• NSBA surveys show a majority of our members (83 percent) already offer some kind of paid sick leave, with a majority of this majority offering 11 days or more.