Parental Leave Bill for Fed Workers Advances

by Mike Hall, May 7, 2009

Federal workers would be allowed four weeks of paid family leave to care for a newborn or adopted child under a bill approved by the full House Oversight and Government Reform Committee yesterday.  

But the relatively routine markup did have its bizarre, sure-to-be-a-Daily-Show-with-Jon-Stewart moment, when one committee member warned that federal workers might abuse the bill by adopting children year after year to get those four weeks off with pay. More on that below. 

The Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (H.R. 626), introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), also would allow federal workers to use up to eight weeks of accrued paid sick time or annual leave immediately following the first four weeks of parental leave. 

Currently, federal employees are allowed up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). But like many private-sector workers, federal employees have no paid family leave to care for a new child. Says Maloney: 

Even before the economic crisis, millions of dual-earner couples were struggling to stay afloat on two incomes. Now, with massive job losses many of those families are scrambling to pay the bills on just one income. Without paid leave, the birth of a child means that many working families are left with no income at all. 

The current recession only makes paid family leave more important. No federal employee who’s a new parent should be forced to choose between their paycheck and their newborn, or newly adopted child in those vital first few weeks home. As the nation’s largest employer, the federal government can—and should—lead the way on this issue. 

Four weeks off to take care of a new child with new expenses, many diapers and lack of sleep is far, far different than four weeks off to cruise the Caribbean and sip umbrella drinks in a deck chair. But apparently Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) believes the time off is so enticing that workers will begin building multi-child broods simply for the four weeks off with pay. Here’s what he says: 

[workers] could have one adoption or one foster child per year, resulting in every year you get a new foster child, every year the husband and wife if they are both federal workers would take four weeks off with pay, because they have simply taken in a new…child.

Wow, what a thought process. Issa ignores a couple of facts, not to mention showing an incredibly warped view of federal workers. (”I need some time off. Think I’ll get a kid.”) Adopting or fostering a child is far more than a four-week commitment. 

It doesn’t make a lot of financial sense either. A new child in the home costs a family about an extra $11,000 a year, according to Maloney. Doesn’t leave too much extra for that cruise. 

The bill now goes to the full House. Similar legislation won House approval last year but never received a Senate vote. Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) has introduced the paid leave bill (S. 354) in the Senate.

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