(a) In 2004, California became the first state in the United States to create a family leave insurance program (referred to herein as “California Paid Family Leave”) that provides partial wage replacement to eligible employees on leave for family caregiving or bonding with a new child. Under the program, codified at Unemployment Insurance Code Section 3300 et seq., employees who contribute to the California State Disability Insurance (SDI) fund are entitled to six weeks of partial pay each year while taking time off from work to bond with a newborn baby, newly adopted child, or new foster child, or to care for a seriously ill family member.
(b) As of January 2016, workers eligible for California Paid Family Leave can take up to six weeks of paid time off at 55% of their weekly wages up to a maximum weekly benefit amount to bond with a new child or care for a seriously ill family member. The weekly benefit amount is determined by using the employee’s highest-earning calendar quarter during an approximately 12-month base period. As of January 2016, the maximum weekly benefit amount is $1,129. To qualify for this maximum weekly benefit amount, an individual must earn at least $26,070.92 in a calendar quarter during the base period. In April 2016, the State Legislature enacted legislation that will increase the wage replacement rate to 70% for lower-income workers and 60% for higher-income workers, for periods of leave commencing after January 1, 2018 but before January 1, 2022.
(c) California Paid Family Leave is available to nearly all private sector workers who pay into the SDI program, either through payroll deductions or voluntarily.
(d) Through 2014, approximately 1.8 million California Paid Family Leave claims were approved by the State of California Employment Development Department (“EDD”) for a total of $4.6 billion in payments. According to EDD, approximately 90% of claims are for bonding with a new child.
(e) Babies whose mothers work during the first three months of the baby’s life are less likely to be breastfed, taken to the doctor for well-baby visits, or be up to-date on immunizations. According to a 2015 study, rates of breastfeeding through infancy in California increased by 10-20 percentage points after development of the California Paid Family Leave program.
(f) Experts have found that it takes at least several months for a pattern of interaction to begin to develop between parent and child where they recognize and learn to respond to each other’s distinct cues. Short-changing this time for parents to learn to be responsive caregivers may have impacts for children’s cognitive as well as social and emotional development.
(g) A 2012 survey by the U.S. Department of Labor found that the main reason employees in the United States do not take unpaid leave under the federal Family Medical Leave Act is that they cannot afford to take it. Further, studies show that low-wage workers in particular would benefit from expanded paid family leave policies.
(h) According to a 2014 report by the California Senate Office of Research, the number of California Paid Family Leave claims filed by individuals in the lowest income bracket consistently is much smaller than the number filed by those in the highest income bracket, and claims in the two lowest income brackets decreased gradually over the prior nine years. Numerous factors may contribute to this declining participation rate, including the current California Paid Family Leave wage-replacement rate of 55%, which may provide insufficient income, particularly for low-income households.
(i) This Article 14 is intended to supplement the California Paid Family Leave partial wage replacement by providing compensation that, in combination with the California Paid Family Leave payment, will total 100% of an employee’s weekly salary, subject to a weekly maximum benefit amount, to help ensure that concern over loss of income does not preclude parents in San Francisco from bonding with their new child.