Demand paid family leave for Tennessee workers!
- by: Caitlin Smith
- recipient: The Tennessee Legislature
Working families across Tennessee need the security of paid time off to care for a new child or seriously ill family member. For too many workers, the birth of a child or family health emergency creates a crisis that forces them to lose needed income or exit the workforce altogether. Low-income workers and their families are especially vulnerable because they often lack the financial resources to take any unpaid time off at all.
Paid family leave improves the health of our families. It helps workers, especially new mothers, to stay in the workforce after childbirth and helps to close the wage gap. Furthermore, businesses benefit by having more productive workers and reduced turnover.
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act is unpaid, and therefore many families are unable to take advantage of any time off because they depend upon their continued incomes. Tennessee should provide workers with partial payment of their salary for up to 12 weeks to care for a family member, including a new child. Employers would not bear the cost of this benefit. Instead, paid family leave insurance benefits could be funded by employees through small paycheck contributions.
Working families in Tennessee deserve better. It’s time for Tennessee to follow in California’s and New Jersey’s footsteps and make paid family leave a priority now!
Dear Members of the Tennessee Legislature,
The arrival of a new child should be a time of pure celebration. Sadly, for the majority of families in Tennessee without paid family leave, this joyous occasion can be short-lived. When a new child arrives, many of these parents have to make an impossible choice between taking the first few critical weeks off of work to bond with their new child, or returning to work in order to continue paying their basic living expenses. Similarly, working Tennesseans frequently cannot afford to take time off to care for a seriously ill family member.
Some leading business owners have recognized that paid leave has benefits for everyone and established paid leave for their employees. But only 11 percent of workers in this country have access to paid family leave through employers. Fewer than 40 percent have access to personal medical leave through an employer-provided temporary disability insurance program. Too many working parents are left to struggle on their own. Paid family leave would alleviate the necessity of using public assistance, thereby helping Tennessee's economy.
Currently, the United States is the only developed country that does not ensure working parents can take job-protected, paid time away from work to bond with a new child. California and New Jersey are paving the way to a more family friendly nation with paid family leave insurance programs for new parents. It is time for Tennessee to follow their lead.
Tennessee's working families deserve better. That's why I support a paid leave insurance program that would make it easier for all working families to take the time they need when a new child arrives or when a loved one is seriously ill.
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