New Legislation Calls for Expanded Paid Leave for Feds
House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) recently introduced the Comprehensive Paid Leave for Federal Employees Act, which would provide 12 weeks of paid leave every year to all federal workers to deal with personal illness, care for a family member with illness, or in connection with a family member going on or returning from active military duty.
Rep. Maloney explained, “Paid family and medical leave is essential for workers to care for ailing relatives and to recover properly from illness or injury without having to worry about losing their incomes. Extending this benefit to federal employees will ensure our government is able to recruit and retain the best public servants our nation has to offer.”
In 2020, as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2020, Congress passed legislation that guaranteed paid parental leave for 2.1 million federal employees, effective October 2020. This legislation is another step in the direction of ensuring that federal workers do not have to choose between their careers and familial responsibility.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), said this legislation is especially crucial as the federal government experiences a retirement crunch, with 31 percent of federal employees reaching retirement eligibility next year. In order to compete with the private sector, the public sector must provide better benefits packages, he claimed. He elaborated, “Many of the private sector companies we’re competing with already provide more family leave than the federal government. We have a talent and recruitment challenge, and if we’re not providing the kinds of benefits available at private sector entities, we’ll have a lot of problems recruiting.”
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) applauded the efforts of Congress for shifting their focus to the well-being of federal employees and said, “This legislation would improve the government’s ability to recruit and retain qualified workers by providing employees with 12 weeks of paid family leave for all absences covered by the FLMA. No federal worker should have to choose between a paycheck and caring for a sick loved one. The federal government is supposed to be a model employer and should lead by example. We thank Chairwoman Maloney and the other lawmakers who have cosponsored this critical legislation, and we look forward to working with Congress to get this new benefit passed into law as quickly as possible.”
