San Franciscos Paid Family Leave Law A Bridge To The Rest Of The Cou

San Franciscos Paid Family Leave Law A Bridge To The Rest Of The Cou Yesterday, the city of San Francisco unanimously voted to pass the nations most generous family paid leave law. Beginning in 2017, all San Francisco employees of businesses with at least 50 employees will have access to 6 weeks of fully paid time-off for the purposes of care-taking for a newborn child, a newly adopted child, or a seriously ill family member.Parents of both genders, as well as same-sex couples and adoptive parents are all eligible to receive this benefit. Weve pulled together a summary of the most important facts and details we could find about the new city ordinance, belowHow will this parental leave be funded and how much will it cost?This measure will be funded by a weekly payroll tax levied on San Francisco employees. San Franciscos schreibstube of Economic Analysis estimated that the ordinance could cost San Francisco businesses over $32 million per year if both men and women took advantage of t he benefit.To be clear, the San Francisco law requires employers fill the pay gap between what California state law already covers in terms of paid parental leave. Californias short-term disability insurance scheme pays for 55% of an employees time off after the birth or adoption of a child, or for care-taking of a sick family member (up to a cap, which has been set in 2016 to be $1,129).What other protections does the law provide?Californias state law doesnt guarantee that the employer maintain an employees old job after they return from parental leave whereas the San Francisco provision makes it illegal to fire an employee after they return from their parental leave.Eligibility and DetailsTo be eligible for the benefit, employees must have worked for an employer for at least 180 days for at least 8 hours per week, and spend at least 40% of their work week within the San Francisco city boundaries. As reported by ABC news, businesses will follow a phased-in schedule for compliance b ased on their size. Businesses with 50 employees will have to abide by the new rules in January 2017, while employers with 35-49 employees have until July 2017 and employers with between 20-34 employers will have to implement the law in 2018.If the employee leaves within 90 days of returning from leave, they will have to pay back the benefit they received and employees must use all accrued vacation before receiving paid leave.Next StepsAlthough the San Francisco ordinance has notlage yet worked their way through the entire law-making process, legislators have described the rest of the process as a formality to the New York Times.Theres certainly good reason for celebration on the California peninsula, and the city may be leading a trend that the rest of the country may begin embracing. Indeed, last week, New York State passed its own paid family leave law, which will become effective in 2018. As far as national law-making is concerned, however, some are not so sanguine. Scott Weiner , the legislator who introduced the proposal in San Francisco said, Whether its paid parental leave, infrastructure investment, minimum wage, paid sick leave or addressing carbon emissions, we know the states have to act.Fairygodboss is committed to improving the workplace and lives of women. Join us by reviewing your employer