NEW HAVEN, CT—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) hosted a series of events with businesses and business groups across her district this week focused on the FAMILY (Family and Medical Insurance Leave) Act. The events, held in New Haven and Waterbury, were roundtable discussions to introduce the FAMILY Act to local leaders and discuss its positive impacts both for employees and employers.
“The Family and Medical Leave Act transformed American workplaces. They are more family-friendly, more productive, and more efficient. Giving employees a modicum of leave to care for family has been good for business. But the problem is Family and Medical Leave is unpaid leave, and many eligible workers – as many as eight out of ten – cannot afford to take it. That is why Americans need access to paid leave. Because being a working parent should not mean choosing between your job and taking care of yourself and your family. The FAMILY Act is the next step. I know we can make this a reality for all workers. It is time.”
The FAMILY Act would establish a national paid family and medical leave insurance program, ensuring that American workers would no longer have to choose between a paycheck and caring for themselves or a family member. It would create an independent trust fund within the Social Security Administration to collect fees and provide benefits. This trust would be funded by employee and employer contributions of 0.2 percent of wages each, creating a self-sufficient program that would not add to the federal budget. So for a contribution of less than $1.50 per week for a typical worker, families can have peace of mind, and workplaces will be more efficient, productive, and family-friendly. Benefit levels would equal 66 percent of an individual’s typical monthly wages up to a capped monthly amount that would be indexed for inflation. The proposal makes leave available to every individual regardless of the size of their current employer and regardless of whether such individual is currently employed by an employer, self-employed or currently unemployed, as long as the person has sufficient earnings and work history.
