Who Needs Pesky Time Off?
Posted by espressodog on October 29, 2009
One of the great myths of public service is that working for the federal government comes with great benefits. While that may have been true in the past, those benefits have not kept up with the changing demographics of the federal workforce. Right now the federal government lags behind the private sector and the world in family-friendly workplace policies.
75 percent of Fortune 100 companies provide an average of six to eight weeks of paid leave to new mothers and two weeks for new fathers. Federal employees get NO paid parental leave. Instead we treat parenting as a short-term disability or illness. The U.S. is the only industrialized country that does not offer some form of paid parental leave. The European Union guides its 27 member states to offer a minimum of fourteen weeks of paid maternity leave.
The Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (FEPPLA) will provide federal workers with up to four weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child. The Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act is an important first step toward establishing the federal government as a model employer. FEPPLA will help our federal government recruit and retain dedicated and talented workers, enable working parents to care for and bond with newborns and newly-adopted children, and show that the federal government truly values families. Like many pieces of work-life balance legislation, FEPPLA has passed the House, but remains mired in the Senate.
Paid parental leave ensures that parents can take time off to care for a new child without suffering devastating financial consequences. The current practice of saving unused vacation time and sick days may work for the lucky family who never gets sick, but it is unrealistic for most families. For low-wage workers, new employees who haven’t built up their vacation time, or those who have used up their sick days before delivery, having a child means that they will either lose several weeks of pay that is crucial to their family’s survival, or return to work immediately after the child is born.
The American family has changed dramatically in the last 50 years. Federal employee benefits should reflect the way we live now – not a half-century ago. In the 1960s, the overwhelming majority – 70% — of American families with children had a mother who stayed home to provide round-the-clock childcare. Today, that statistic is reversed: two-thirds of families with children have either two employed parents, or a single employed parent, most of whom now work full-time. Not only are many more parents working, but working parents today work longer hours than their counterparts of a half century ago. Times have changed; so should our benefit policies.
Offering paid parental leave will help the federal government recruit and retain dedicated and talented workers and compete with the private sector. The federal workforce is aging and family-friendly benefits could help attract younger workers. From 1994-2004, the average age of federal workers increased from 43.6 years to 46.7 years. Younger workers are leaving public service because the benefits are not keeping up with their needs.
As the nation’s largest employer, the Federal Government should be a leader in family-friendly workplace policy.
Marie Lutkus said
How is a privately owned firm supposed to pay for these leaves, provide good benefits, treat the people well, and make money to stay in business. Get real.
espressodog said
How can a firm afford not to? The workforce is changing and younger works demand a far greater degree of work-life balance than their predecessors. The qualified employees you need to run your business are choosing to work for companies that provide benefits such as paid parental leave and avoiding those that do not.
Kimberly Bush said
Just as younger, supposedly better educated workers desire more ‘perks’ at work, most businesses recognize the cost of contantly hiring and training new employees. Background checks for financial stability is a must. They are also costly. The Federal government, and many of its vendors, post 9/11 are required to check more than just the validity of your driver’s license. While many of us no longer expect to “work the Ford assembly line” from high school graduation to retirement, retention of quality workers is still more fiscally desired than ever before.
This issue is NOT about ‘doing as Europe does’. If we all wanted to live in Europe, planes are departing every day. It is about the REAL importance of the family unit to our nation and its society.
This is coming to you from IL, where over HALF of the births last year were to Medicaid recipients, who are more than happy to work no harder than making more babies.