Paid Family Leave – California

Study: Paid family leave raises satisfaction without killing jobs in California, By Niesha Lofing, January 11, 2011, Sacramento Bee: “California’s landmark Paid Family Leave program didn’t amount to be the costly ‘job-killer’ businesses initially feared and has resulted in significant economic, social and health benefits for both male and female workers, economic and labor researchers found in a study released today. The study by University of California Los Angeles, City University of New York and the Center for Economic and Policy Research is the first study of the state’s Paid Family Leave since the law’s passage in 2002. The program, the benefits of which became available to most working Californians in July 2004, provides eligible employees up to six weeks of wage replacement leave at 55 percent of their usual weekly earnings (with a cap that is adjusted for inflation) when they take time off from work to bond with a new child or to care for a seriously ill relative. Researchers Eileen Appelbaum and Ruth Milkman noted that, despite business opposition to the law, most employers they surveyed reported that the program had either a ‘positive effect’ or ‘no noticeable effect’ on productivity, profitability and performance, turnover and morale…”