Press Releases
June 16, 2008
Webb Introduces Paid Leave Measure For Federal Employees
Bill Would Provide Four Weeks of Paid Parental Leave for Federal Employees
Washington, DC - Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) today introduced bipartisan legislation, the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act, to provide four weeks of paid leave to federal employees for the birth or adoption of a child. Senators Warner, Schumer, Clinton, Durbin, Cardin, Mikulski, Kerry, and Sanders serve as original cosponsors of the legislation.
The federal government, the country’s largest employer with more than 2.7 million employees, does not currently provide any paid parental leave for its employees, while 75% of Fortune 100 companies provide an average of six to eight weeks of paid leave to new mothers. Currently, all federal employees are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave guaranteed to them by the Family and Medical Leave Act, but most can’t afford to forego pay to take leave.
“The legislation we introduced today is an issue of fairness for the working family,” said Senator Webb. “Paid parental leave will improve recruitment and retention for federal agencies. The federal government should set the standard for family-friendly workplace policy that supports new families.”
Webb’s bill closely mirrors the standard recently set by the Senate Armed Services Committee in the current National Defense Authorization Bill, which authorizes up to 21 days of paid paternity leave for the military.
"We truly appreciate all the support that Sen. Webb has given federal workers in the past, and applaud the introduction of this Paid Parental Leave bill today," stated Rhonda Trent, President of Federally Employed Women (FEW). "We will be putting our grassroots letter-writing campaign in full gear now to obtain additional co-sponsors for this bill to help ensure that this critical piece of legislation moves forward for our younger workforce colleagues," Trent added.
"This is important, badly needed legislation that puts our family values to work," said Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families. "It would benefit federal workers directly by providing four weeks of paid leave when babies are born or adopted, and help state and private sector workers by demonstrating that paid leave works well for both employees and employers. We thank Senator Webb for introducing this bill. We will do all we can to convince lawmakers to enact it this year."
Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced the measure, H.R. 5781, in the House of Representatives with the support of 21 co-sponsors. The bill recently was approved by the relevant U.S. House Committee and is scheduled for full House consideration later this week.
The organizations that support the bill include: The National Partnership for Women and Families; The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE); the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU); The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); Moms Rising, and Federally Employed Women.
To read Senator Webb’s floor speech submitted to the Congressional Record, please visit: http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=299218.
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