Bill would establish paid family leave program

Paid family medical leave would be available to Nebraskans under a bill heard by the Business and Labor Committee Feb. 1.

LB850, introduced by Bellevue Sen. Sue Crawford, would provide paid family medical leave for covered individuals in the event of the birth of a new child, adoption or foster care placement, serious illness or pregnancy or illness of a family member.

Crawford said the federal government provides medical leave but it is unpaid.

“According to a 2012 national workforce survey, half of those eligible for the federal program did not take the leave they needed because they couldn’t afford to,” she said. “States can invest in infrastructure that ensures people can put their families first without sacrificing their jobs.”

Beginning on April 1, 2019, any individual working for a covered employer—any employer subject to employment security law—could elect coverage, upon which a payroll tax would be deducted from the individual’s wages. The amount to be deducted would not exceed one-half of 1 percent of the individual’s wages in any 12-month period.

A covered individual could take up to 12 weeks of paid leave for a serious illness, including pregnancy, which precludes the employee from performing his or her regular job duties. For all other leave requests, up to eight weeks of paid leave would be available.

Ken Smith, a staff attorney with Nebraska Appleseed, supported the bill. He said our country is one of the few in the world that does not provide paid maternity leave at the federal level.

“At some point, nearly everybody faces the need to take time away from work to take care of a newborn or tend to a medical emergency,” Smith said. “While the federal Family Medical Leave Act can prevent someone in this situation from losing their job, it only guarantees unpaid leave, which many people simply cannot afford to take.”

Dr. Sofia Jawed-Wessel, an assistant professor of public health at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, also supported the bill. She said providing adequate time for parents to care for newborns has far-reaching effects.

“I see firsthand the health benefits of parents who are able to take parental leave without worrying about the financial considerations,” she said. “We must stop expecting new mothers to go back to business as usual so soon after welcoming their baby.”

The amount of paid benefits available to covered individuals would be determined as follows:
• 95 percent of weekly wage for individuals whose annual earnings are no more than 20 percent of Nebraska’s annual median wage;
• 90 percent of weekly wage for individuals whose annual earnings are more than 20 percent but less than 30 percent of the annual median wage;
• 85 percent of weekly wage for individuals whose annual earnings are more than 30 percent but less than 50 percent of the annual median wage; or
• 66 percent of weekly wage for individuals whose annual earnings are more than 50 percent of the the annual median wage.

A person could not collect paid family medical leave and unemployment benefits simultaneously.

Coby Mach, president of the Lincoln Independent Business Association, opposed the bill, saying it could be devastating to a small business.

“[With LB850] there really is no incentive for a person to work with their employer on flex time,” Mach said. “It gives the person more incentive to take advantage of state paid leave where he or she could be gone as much as three months every year.”

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.