Gillibrand proposes bill to create paid family and medical leave

UTICA — A proposed federal law would establish a national paid, family and medical-leave insurance program.

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) announced the proposal for the Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act during a stop in Utica last Friday.

The current Family and Medical Leave Act law provides unpaid, job-protected leave for serious health related events for only about half of the workforce, according to a news release from Gillibrand’s office.

The FAMILY Act would create an independent trust fund within the Social Security Administration to collect fees and provide benefits.

Employee and employer contributions of 0.2 percent of wages each would fund the trust, creating a self-sufficient program that would not add to the federal budget, Gillibrand contends.

The expected cost to the average worker “would be similar to the expense of a cup of coffee a week,” according to Gillibrand’s office.

Benefit levels, modeled on existing successful state programs in New Jersey and California, would equal 66 percent of an individual’s typical monthly wages up to a capped monthly amount that would be indexed for inflation, according to the federal proposal.

The proposal makes leave available to every individual regardless of the size of his/her 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, Gillibrand’s news release stated.

When a young parent needs time to care for a newborn child, it “should never come down to an outdated policy” that lets her boss decide how long it will take, along with the fate of her career and her future, Gillibrand said in the release.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com