Paid leave for prenatal care is poised to become a national women’s health initiative. Now, New York has become the first state to mandate independent paid prenatal leave.
In April, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul sign The New York labor law amendment requires employers to provide pregnant employees up to 20 hours of paid leave during a 52-week period to attend prenatal medical appointments and surgeries. This regulation takes effect on January 1, 2025.
“I think other states and other governors have similar values in prioritizing women’s health and hopefully will follow suit,” said Reshma Shojani, founder and CEO of the nonprofit Girls Code movement Moms First. (Reshma Saujani) said.
The federal government’s Family and Medical Leave Act provides job-protected leave for prenatal care or when a pregnant woman is unable to work because of her pregnancy. The bill entitles covered employees to up to 12 work weeks of leave in a 12-month period. However, while their jobs are protected during this period, the leave is unpaid.
Washington, D.C. also enacted a similar law New York recently passed a bill allowing up to two weeks of paid leave to receive pregnancy-related medical care. D.C. law also allows for an additional 12 weeks of paid leave after the birth of a baby.
These laws are based on medical research showing that prenatal care often leads to better health outcomes for mothers and their babies.
“Our philosophy is that working mothers should not have to tap into their sick leave bank, nor should they tap into that bank to pay for their health care expenses,” said Harris M. Mufson, a partner at the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Child-related healthcare costs. “There is a view that they should have a separate bank for this situation – that would be appropriate and appropriate support for working mothers. “
No federal labor law precedent exists
Although the FMLA allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year, there is no federal law that generally requires private employers to provide paid leave to employees who need time off for family and medical needs. Likewise, there is no federal law covering paid leave for prenatal care.
Saujani said paid leave is not a partisan issue, but it is not necessarily the top concern for lawmakers. “At the federal level, it never got passed because I don’t think it was ever prioritized.”
At the state level, more than a dozen states and at least one local jurisdiction have passed laws requiring private employers to provide paid family and medical leave to their employees. Westero said all laws allow paid leave for the birth of a child or to care for a seriously ill family member, and some states also allow paid leave for other reasons, such as prenatal care.
As of January, about 14 states — including California, Colorado, Connecticut and Delaware, as well as Washington, D.C., and the city and county of San Francisco — had paid family and medical leave programs in place.
New York State incorporates new prenatal protections into its paid sick leave law. Westlaw said at least 18 states, plus Washington, D.C., and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, have passed statewide paid sick leave laws. Laws in three of those states — Illinois, Maine and Nevada — allow paid time off for any reason, not just sick leave.
States more likely to follow New York’s lead
Ogletree shareholder Kelly M. Cardin said the states most likely to pass laws requiring paid leave for prenatal care are states that tend to provide more protections for workers, such as California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Washington, Illinois. states, New Jersey and Connecticut. “I think this is something that could spread,” she said.
The concept of requiring payment of prenatal benefits may be particularly compelling given federal regulations. Pregnant Workers Fairness Actsigned into law by President Biden in December 2022 and effective on June 27, 2023.
Generally, the PWFA requires employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” to employees to accommodate known limitations of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless doing so would cause an undue hardship.This law does not replace more protective laws workers in this area.more than 30 state Cities have laws requiring employers to accommodate pregnant workers.
Cardin said that given the federal government’s focus on pregnant workers through the PWFA, it’s likely that states, especially the more progressive states, will follow suit and provide additional protections. This also follows an overall trend in some states trying to level the playing field for employees when it comes to employee benefits.
Few workers take advantage of paid leave programs
Of course, it’s not just a matter of passing laws; Saujani said it’s important to make sure women know they exist.
Although states like New York have well-received paid family leave programs, utilization of the program remains low, at just 2% of eligible workers, That’s according to data provided to CNBC by Moms First. Saujani said this reflects a national trend in which only 3% to 5% of eligible workers receive paid leave.
“If no one knows it exists, they can’t access it,” said Saujani, whose organization has set up a website The company uses artificial intelligence to help people determine their eligibility for paid family leave in New York. Shojani said Moms First is rolling out the tool to other states that offer paid leave to help residents in those states determine whether they qualify.
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