A cornerstone of the tense budget negotiations on Capitol Hill was federally-mandated paid family or medical leave that would have given employees 12 weeks to care for a new child, recover from a personal illness, or tend to a sick loved one.
While nearly all industrialized nations have some sort of national paid family leave policy, the United States still does not and never has. Currently, the federal government mandates most U.S. workers can take 12 weeks of unpaid leave and not be in jeopardy of losing their jobs.
A recent CBS poll found 73% of Americans support some sort of federal paid family and medical leave policy, yet just nine states California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, Washington, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon, and Washington D.C. offer paid family leave policies.
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Without a federal plan, how can employers attract and retain the best talent? It’s best to take matters into your own hands.
First things first, if you have the green balance sheet necessary to offer an employer-based paid family leave plan, then it could be a tremendous opportunity not only for your employees, but for your company. It’d be a massive differentiator and strong selling-point during the recruitment process, since only 16% of private-industry workers have access to some sort of paid maternity leave.
If option one is not possible from a financial or company standpoint, then consider an outside-the-box employee benefit: group disability insurance. This is an income protection insurance plan that can offer and cover all members of an organization. It can be either long-term or short-term disability insurance, and the costs will usually be the same for all employees regardless of age and health.
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Coverage is often not as extensive as individual disability insurance, but it’s also frequently cheaper than an individual plan. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found private employers paid the full cost for 85% of workers with short term coverage and 94% of workers with long term coverage.
Due to its rarity, having a group disability insurance plan as an employee benefit could also be a nice selling point for keeping and getting the best talent. The BLS found just 42% of private employees have access to short term disability plans through their employers, while 34% can get a long term plan through their employers. Once again though, this is an option at the expense of the employer, so it may not be possible for your business.
A third option would be to just inform your employees about individual disability insurance plans so they are aware the option exists. Consumers are generally uninformed when it comes to disability insurance, and a reminder could go a long way towards getting some financial help.
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Having a quick all-hands meeting with company staff regarding disability insurance might be very appreciated by your workers. This is especially true for employees who are planning on motherhood. If an expecting mother applies for disability insurance when they are already pregnant it will be counted as a pre-existing condition and not be eligible for a payout. If employees knew of this beforehand, they would have ample time to prepare themselves for unpaid maternity leave.
Paid family leave might come to this country at some point, but until then, it’s best for employers to be proactive about providing their employees with ample financial resources to get ready for any time spent away from the office.
