Lawmakers reintroduce paid parental leave bill

House lawmakers on Thursday reintroduced legislation that would provide paid parental leave benefits to all federal employees.

The bill (H.R. 626), sponsored by Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.; Frank Wolf, R-Va.; Steny Hoyer, D-Md.; Danny K. Davis, D-Ill.; and Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., would provide all federal employees with four weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child. A similar measure passed the House in the 110th Congress. Companion legislation was introduced in the Senate but did not make it out of committee.

Currently employees can use a combination of paid annual leave, paid sick leave and unpaid leave for childbirth or adoption under the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act. Federal parents can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid maternity or paternity leave and up to 13 days of paid sick leave to care for newborn or adopted children.

"Families should not have to choose between a paycheck and getting their newborn home and settled in, especially in these economic times," Maloney said. "With [this legislation], the federal government can make family-friendly more than a buzzword and ensure that both newborns and the government benefit."

In addition to providing four weeks of paid leave, the measure would allow employees to use accumulated annual or sick leave to reach the 12 weeks of unpaid leave guaranteed under current law.

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., said on Thursday that he planned to introduce companion legislation in the Senate.

In 2001, the Office of Personnel Management, which administers leave policy, published a report that found the federal government's leave policies compared favorably with those of the private sector's. The Bush administration had proposed offering a short-term disability insurance benefit to help some employees, particularly those who needed large amounts of leave early in their careers.

By failing to provide paid parental leave, the government lags the private sector and many industrialized nations, the bill's sponsors argue. A study conducted last year by the Joint Economic Committee found that 75 percent of Fortune 100 companies offered new mothers some form of paid leave, typically lasting six to eight weeks. Additionally, more than 163 industrialized nations guaranteed paid maternal leave, with 45 of those countries also providing paid paternal leave.

"The aim of this legislation is to keep the federal workforce in step with the private sector, which has been providing this benefit for many years," Wolf said. "And with the coming wave of federal retirements, we must ensure that federal employment is a competitive option for young Americans starting families."