Did you know that only 7% of employers offer paid family leave to their employees? This is paid time off that can be taken for maternity or paternity leave or days off to care for a sick family member (including a child). Many people who need family leave take a combination of sick days, vacation days and unpaid time to get it. Leaving them with no paid days off when they return to work. Many also incur debt from their unpaid time off. And 51% of private-sector employees don't even get that! Those folks don't have a single paid sick day through their job, so when they have or adopt a baby, or need to care for a sick family member, they have to take unpaid time off or return to work too quickly.
Please, tell us what you did. Did you have paid leave when you needed it? If so, how much? If you didn't, what did you do? Take unpaid time? Return to work quickly? What impact do you think that had on your family?
Your personal stories make a huge difference when we're talking to legislators. Tales of parents who have to choose between being there for their newborn children or sick family members, or losing days or weeks of needed pay, help legislators understand the reality of the challenges Oregon's families face. Please help us by sharing your story here.
I'm european living and working in the US for the subsidiary of an European company. When I became pregnant last year, what was my big surprise to learn that in the USA the law only allowed 12 weeks of maternity leave without pay (unless stated otherwise by the employer) and none for the father. It was a shock and psychologically very difficult for me to accept that I could only spend with my baby 6 weeks paid at 80% of my salary plus 2 more that I decided to take on vacation. Why was it so difficult? Because, if I was in France (where I was living right before coming to the US), I would have enjoyed 16 weeks of maternity leave fully paid and my husband would have enjoyed 2 weeks fully paid as well. On to of that, because of the paid vacation in France and of what they call RTT (work time reduction compensation days), some of our friends are enjoying up to 6 months of leave with their babies.
I just cannot understand why such a great, rich and developped country, such as the USA, can fall behind so much when it comes to assure the well-being (physical and psychological) of the our future - our children.
Posted by: Cristina Anton Villa | November 24, 2008 at 06:14 AM
Wish I could come to your meeting, but with the weather the way it is looking, I won't be going out this weekend (I live in NE Gresham, so we always get hit harder by ice and such).
Posted by: Jenni Simonis | December 10, 2008 at 11:04 PM