The Port of Seattle Commission has approved a motion to provide four weeks of paid parental leave for non-represented employees during the 12 months following the birth, adoption, or placement of a foster child in the employee’s home – effective Jan. 1, 2016.
“This action ensures that every Port employee will have dedicated paid leave to recover from birth and/or bond with a new child,” said Port of Seattle Commission Co-President Courtney Gregoire. “We recognize those first days and weeks are important to the health of all the members of the family. Not only will paid family leave help the port attract and retain quality employees, it establishes a policy fundamental to supporting more women in the workforce.”
The proposed parental leave plan will offer four weeks of paid time off to both men and women. City Councilmember Jean Godden testified in favor of the motion and the positive impact it has had since the City of Seattle implemented a similar program this spring. King County is also expected to begin a paid parental leave program in the coming months.
Paid family leave programs are linked to improved health outcomes for children and families. Credit: manuere/Morguefile
SEATTLE – The issue of paid family leave is coming into the forefront in Washington again.
The state is among eight recently selected for a federal grant to research the benefits of implementing a paid family and medical leave program. The $247,000 grant will allow Washington to put the paid leave program, adopted by the Legislature eight years ago, back on the drawing board.
Marilyn Watkins, policy director with the Economic Opportunity Institute, says a study will compare benefits vs. costs, and the impact on families and businesses.
“Another part of it will be to look at existing state programs and services and how a family and medical leave insurance program would interact with those and really allow them to work better,” says Watkins.
The Family Leave Insurance Act was approved in 2007 but tabled due to a lack of funding. Under federal and state law, workers are guaranteed up to 12 weeks of leave for pregnancy, newborn and medical care situations, but it is unpaid time.
Watkins says with paid family leave, the state can save on public assistance, child-care subsidies, and senior home care. And she adds research shows it boosts worker earnings, increases employee retention and improves health outcomes for children and families.
“We all understand how important it is that parents be able to stay home with their newborn children and really nurture and care for those new young lives, for mothers to recover their own health following childbirth and to really give the baby their best possible start in life,” says Watkins.
Funding the program will not be a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, explains Watkins. She says
workers would contribute to a trust fund through a small payroll premium, and then draw from it when on family or medical leave.
“Employers are not having to foot the bill when people are out on extended leave and also the state isn’t footing the bill through other existing state revenues,” she says. “It’s a new source of revenue and makes it a completely self-funded program.”
California, Massachusetts and New Jersey are among states that have passed similar paid leave laws.
California women now have a better chance at equal pay. Governor Jerry Brown has signed a new law that both allows employees to freely discuss pay in the workplace and broadens existing pay discrimination laws to cover “substantially similar work.”
Too many employers across the nation hide behind pay secrecy policies and play games with job titles to justify paying women less than men. Now – at least in California – women will have access to information, and employers will have to show job-related differences in qualifications and legitimate business reasons to justify pay differentials.
A similar bill in Washington, the Equal Pay Opportunity Act, passed the House earlier this year with bipartisan support, but died quickly in the Republican-controlled Senate.
According to the latest American Community Survey data, women in Washington state who worked full-time in 2014 made 77% of the typical man’s wages – a loss of more than $12,000 annually for family incomes. White women made 74% of a white man’s pay, Black and Native American women 58%, and Latina and Pacific Island women less than half. Even women with graduate or professional degrees made only 65% of their male counterparts’ salaries.
Median 2014 Earnings for Full-Time, Year-Round Workers in Washington
Source: American Community Survey, 2014
In addition to their stronger position on fair pay, California women – and men – have long enjoyed other advantages over most of the nation’s workers. California is one of only three U.S. states to guarantee paid maternity and paternity leave. Not surprisingly, they also have better social, economic and health outcomes. New moms and babies are healthier, dads are more involved with their young children, and fewer new parents are forced onto public assistance than in other states. And women are also more likely to be employed and at higher wages a year following childbirth.
California’s family and disability leave insurance program also provides paid leave to care for an elderly parent or other seriously ill family member, or when a worker is too ill or injured to work for an extended period.
Loss of earnings due to pay discrimination and lack of paid leave means more children grow up in financially insecure households and struggle with school, and women are more likely to face economic hardship in retirement.
California women enjoy higher pay and a smaller gender wage gap than women in Washington. In 2016, our legislature should prioritize a women’s economic agenda that includes equal pay and family and medical leave insurance, along with paid sick and safe days for more routine health needs. It’s good for women, families, local communities, and our whole economy.
The Port of Seattle Commission has approved a motion to provide four weeks of paid parental leave for non-represented employees during the 12 months following the birth, adoption, or placement of a foster child in the employee’s home – effective Jan. 1, 2016.
Washington Work and Family Coalition 