The United States remains the only high-income country without mandatory paid parental leave, medical leave or national family caregiving policies. Regardless, gains have been made at state and national levels, as calls for these policies increase. For example, Michigan and Minnesota now offer 15 and 18 weeks of paid family leave respectively. On a national scale, under the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act from 2020, all eligible government workers receive 12 paid weeks of parental leave within 12 months following birth or placement.

In contrast to the U.S., the shortest duration of paid leave in other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries is two months, while Estonia provides its workers more than a year and a half of paid parental leave. Even so, the U.S. federal law does not guarantee that private employees will receive 12 weeks of paid parental leave during a qualifying event.

Studies have shown that paid family leave has several benefits for families and organizations. Among numerous advantages, it assures employee retention and satisfaction, reduces turnover costs, attracts top talent through competitive edge, and promotes employee engagement, especially among women.

As more U.S. states consider implementing paid leave programs, organizations should simultaneously establish their own programs with tax advantages to decrease the burden for employees. This approach, in turn, continuously generates benefits in talent acquisition, retention, engagement and productivity.

If you are having trouble contacting representatives from state departments about these leave policies, eddcaller.com can assist. The automated dialing program helps people get through to representatives for unemployment, paid family leave and disability departments by phone, offering a faster way to get through to EDD.