With fate of federal paid family medical leave uncertain, look for continued legislation on state level in 2022

Editor’s note: The House has since passed its version of the social spending bill on Friday morning, the day after the webinar on which this article is based.

The fate of federal paid family medical leave legislation is expected to come into focus later this week.

“If the House passes the reconciliation bill and it includes paid family medical leave, it goes to the Senate, which is tied 50-50,” said Susan Murphy, director of customer solutions group insurance for Prudential. “If they vote along party lines, you would need every Democrat to support it. Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, has publicly said he does not support this bill.”

Murphy shared her insights during “Paid Leave — The Laws You Need to Know About for 2022,” a November 18 webinar sponsored by the Disability Management Employer Coalition.

Regardless of what Congress does, many states already are taking action, The new Connecticut Paid Family and Medical Leave program takes effect on January 1. In addition, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Washington D.C., Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island and Washington state all have changes to their paid leave laws for 2022.

Policymakers have discussed implementing a uniform federal policy for years.

“I am asked fairly routinely about when the federal government will step in and come up with a paid family medical leave program so each state doesn’t have its own program and employers don’t have so many different rules to comply with,” Murphy said. “There have been some proposals in recent years that would take the unpaid FMLA away and make it paid. The federal government would be the payer through the Social Security Administration. The current House proposal is part of the larger reconciliation act.”

Legislative support tends to follow party affiliation.

“Generally, Democrats and Republicans have different approaches to federal paid family medical leave,” she said. “Democrats tend to want a guaranteed universal program. They see this as an entitlement. Republicans lean toward such things as a tax credit to incentivize the payers to provide paid leave.“

The House plan, if enacted, would provide four weeks of paid family medical leave for all workers, effective on Jan. 1, 2022. Employees could take this leave for medical reasons, to bond with a new child or to care for a family member. The legislation defines family members as:

• Spouse (or domestic partner as recognized by a state) and the spouse’s parent;
• Child and child’s spouse;
• Parent and parent’s spouse;
• Sibling and sibling’s spouse;
• Grandparent, grandchild or spouse of grandparent or grandchild; and
• Any other association by blood of affinity that is equivalent to a family relationship

Benefits would be provided on a sliding scale, replacing a portion of wages capped at $62,000. The bill allows legacy state programs and employer-provided programs to receive reimbursement.

The Congressional Budget Office currently is scoring the overall reconciliation package to project the cost.

“This is to be done by the close of business on Friday,” Murphy said. “Family leave is one component of the reconciliation package. The House is expected to vote on Friday evening or possibly Saturday, and as I understand it, it’s all or nothing. They either pass the reconciliation bill or they do not.”

If the House package passes with paid leave intact, the Senate — or more specifically, Joe Manchin — will determine the outcome.

“You never know what’s going to happen in politics, and lots of things can change quickly, but if you ask me what’s likely to happen, paid family medical leave will get stripped out of the reconciliation bill before it goes to the Senate,” Murphy said.

If so, look for continued action on the state level.

“It’s unclear what’s going to happen on the federal level in 2022 regarding paid family medical leave, but depending on what we see in coming days from the House, Senate and Congressional Budget Office, we could see renewed efforts on the state level,” she said. “But this is the furthest the federal government has gotten with a paid family medical leave program. We will follow it in the coming days and weeks and see what transpires.”