Views on parental leave changing

May 16—Maumee residents Dave and Kristin Tighe welcomed a new baby to their family in March, and through his company's benefits, Mr. Tighe got six weeks of paid parental leave to stay home and bond with his child.

"You better believe I used that time," said Mr. Tighe, a senior consultant and actuary at Findley, a division of USI.

Mr. Tighe is among the lucky employees, because according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 19 percent of all civilian workers receive paid family leave.

By contrast the United States is the only one of 41 developed countries that doesn't guarantee workers paid time off when they're having a new child or dealing with an illness, according to research by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In Japan and Norway, new parents get up to a year of paid leave.

Currently, just nine states and the District of Columbia have paid family leave programs, with varying levels of benefits, and federal workers received a paid leave plan just last year.

But that might be changing soon.

In its $1.8 trillion American Families Plan, the Biden administration in April proposed a plan for a national paid family and medical leave program that would, among other things, give working parents paid time off with at least two-thirds of their salary — up to $4,000 a month — covered by federal payments.

Within 10 years the plan would provide workers with 12 weeks of paid leave, at an overall cost of about $225 billion that could be use "to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill loved one, deal with a loved one's military deployment, find safety from sexual assault, stalking, or domestic violence, heal from their own serious illness, or take time to deal with the death of a loved one," according to the White House.

Those in area businesses' human resources departments are reluctant to discuss the idea, and the mere mention of paid parental leave benefits evoked hesitancy among area HR employees contacted this past week

But Mr. Tighe said the subject is "getting a ton of talk, especially among younger workers for obvious reasons."

In fact, it is younger workers — millennials and Generation Z workers just entering the workforce — that are pushing hardest for the benefit.

"The focus is on flexibility, and I think Covid has brought on a lot of those issues. But when it comes to parental leave, it is growing," Mr. Tighe said.

Michelle Wing, president of the Northwest Ohio Human Resource Association, agreed.

"It's definitely an emerging trend, I would say. Out east some states recently implemented paid parental leave," she said, adding that the companies are starting to recognize that it can be valuable for recruiting and retention.

"It's a nice perk. Not everyone is doing it, but it is something that your top employers are considering," Ms. Wing said.

For example, the Toledo Museum of Art just expanded its parental leave program to now include a 12-week paid leave for all new parents — regardless of natural birth, adoption, or the gender of the parent. The benefit begins with the new fiscal year in July.

"...This investment in our staff and their families is important to us and exemplifies our continued commitment toward being an employer of choice," the museum said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Toledo Opera said it is in the midst of strategic planning and reviewing its policies and procedures.

"As part of that process, our existing parental leave policy, which allows employees to request paid leaves of absence on an individual basis, is under review," opera spokesman Suzanne Rorick said in a statement.

Mr. Tighe said there is a dichotomy developing around the issue between larger companies and organizations and smaller ones.

Many larger companies already have developed paid parental leave and use it to entice would-be employees.

For example, Marathon Petroleum provides eight weeks of paid parental leave for all birthing events. A non-birthing parent gets four weeks.

At automaker Stellantis, the parent firm of the Jeep brand, salaried employees who are birth mothers receive six to eight weeks of short-term disability. The company also provides 12 weeks of paid time off for new parents "to allow employees time to bond with the newest members of their families when they welcome a child through birth or adoption."

For hourly employees, the birth mother is eligible for six to eight weeks of short-term disability, then may apply for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Dana Inc. offers full-time salaried employees up to four weeks of paid leave in the first six months after the birth of a child or placement of a newly adopted child. The first two weeks are paid at 100 percent of salary and the second two weeks are at 50 percent. The policy is in addition to maternity leave and runs concurrent with any qualifying Family Medical Leave absences.

Owens Corning gives mothers six to eight weeks of paid leave, depending on the type of delivery. And both parents receive two weeks of general paid parental leave.

Lastly, at ProMedica the first two weeks are considered an elimination period during which employees use either accrued reserved sick time or paid time off, according to a time-usage plan ProMedica developed. Short-term disability kicks in on the 15th day if their claim is approved.

ProMedica also offers full-time employees free short-term disability insurance that pays 60 of their weekly wages. For maternity, that would pay employees for four to six weeks, and employees also can take an unpaid period for bonding time.

Smaller employers — and the Family and Medical Leave Act doesn't apply to firms with fewer than 50 employees — largely are reluctant to provide paid parental leave because it poses greater hurdles for them.

"The cost to companies that have an hourly workforce is they have to backfill if someone takes a leave," Mr. Tighe said. "Places that operate 24/7 or for a manufacturer with three shifts, they have to think about staffing. But the benefit, especially if you're trying to attract younger workers, can outweigh it," he added.

Mr. Tighe said research by Findley shows that younger workers will gravitate to those employers with more advantageous leave policies.

Other research on the topic shows that not only is paid parental leave growing in popularity, it is something most people agree on.

According to a YouGov poll of 21,000 people conducted in March and April, 82 percent of Americans feel employees should be able to take paid maternity leave, including for adoption. Sixty-eight percent backed paid leaves for both mom and dad. And support was across the political spectrum — 73 percent of Republicans, 83 percent of independents and 94 percent of Democrats back paid parental leave policy.

Lisa Hawker, president of Employee Benefits Operation at Toledo's Hylant Group, a company that provides insurance and brokerage services, said the topic of paid parental leave is getting so much attention so quickly that Hylant recently hired Joy Sanders, a leave management specialist, to help field of avalanche of questions the company is getting from clients concerned about the topic.

"The pandemic brought it on full force. We've had unpaid leave," Ms. Hawker said. "But the tide is turning. Paid family leave is now being proposed in Connecticut."

Ms. Hawker said the pandemic made many realize that paid leaves are not covered under disability and that jobs with employers providing paid leaves are more attractive.

"Covid really demonstrated that you can easily be in a situation for multiple weeks where you need to be off to take care of a family member. If you've exhausted your vacation from giving birth, what do you do?" Ms. Hawker said.

Just over a week ago in Atlanta, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill providing three weeks of paid parental leave for state employees, including those of local boards of education.

Ms. Hawker said Ohio is not among states currently talking about paid parental leave.

But at the corporate level, she said, clients were asking lots of questions in December and January. Now they are into strategic planning and discussion will likely be taking place in many boardrooms.

Discussions are likely to center on paid leaves' duration and the circumstances under which employees qualify, Ms. Hawker said.

Mr. Tighe said older generations used to enjoy support systems that included an older parent, grandparents, or "aunts and uncles that lived down the street from the family farm." But for many that type of support no longer exists, which is where paid parental can be of help, he said.

"There are costs associated, especially if you have to backfill. And there's concern about onboarding people if the length of the leave is too long," the consultant said.

"But the upside is you're sort of being more friendly to your younger workers. You instill some loyalty, which is very hard to do these days, especially among millennials," Mr. Tighe said. "And I think you also build up an atmosphere that says you can balance your work life and personal life."

First Published May 16, 2021, 9:00am