Paid Parental Leave in Virginia

 This guest post is from Carly Huffman, Regent Law 2L and Current Family Law student:

 

Last May, one of my friends had to return to work twenty-one days after giving birth to her son. Her company did not qualify for unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) because they had under fifty employees. She told me that even if she had qualified for unpaid leave, her family would not have been able to afford it.

The Virginia Paid Family and Medical Leave Program would require the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer paid family and medical leave benefits for up to twelve weeks and up to eighty percent of the employee’s average weekly wage. Right now, men and woman have to choose between work and family responsibilities due to the limited reach of the FMLA and the lack of paid parental leave available. For many, paid parental leave would mean no longer having to make this impossible decision.

Woman make up nearly half of the Virginia work force and thirty percent of business owners – we cannot afford to lose women out of the workforce in Virginia.

To maintain the population, we need the rate of live birth per woman to equal 2.1, right now it is at 1.8 and declining. Many women and couples say they do not intend to have children because they fear it will adversely affect their career.

Virginia needs women in its workforce, and it needs women to have babies. Enacting the Virginia Paid Family and Medical Leave Program is the first step to allowing women to realize they do not have to choose between having a family and having a successful career.