Family and Medical Leave
Family and medical leave allows employees to take paid time off to care for a long-term medical issue for themselves, their children, or a loved one or to address needs during a long-term absence from work, such as a military deployment.
Benefits to EmployersFootnote # 1
- Increases productivity
- Does not impact profits
- Increases retention, reducing turnover costs
- Reduces employee absenteeism
- Provides healthier work environment
- Reduces health care costs
- Workers recover from disability, illness, or injury more quickly
- Increases loyalty
Benefits to ChildrenFootnote # 2
- Encourages use of preventative health care
- Children recover more quickly from illness and injury when parents are available to care for them
Benefits to Parents/FamiliesFootnote # 3
- Encourages use of preventative health care
- Workers recover from disability, illness, or injury more quickly
Research or Recommendations from National Organizations
- While it does not provide a recommended amount, the American Medical Association strongly encourages private employers to offer paid sick and medical leave and allow employees to use that leave to care for children when they are sick or injured.Footnote # 4
- In 2021, more than two dozen medical associations, patient groups and healthcare partners joined together to advocate for a national paid family and medical leave program. Organizations included the ALS Association, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the National Organization for Rare Disorders and the Epilepsy Foundation.
- The American Heart Association advocates for paid leave policies that:Footnote # 5
- cover as many workers as possible;
- offer sufficient wage replacement, ensuring lower-income workers have enough wage replacement to allow them to take advantage of paid leave policies;
- offer sufficient time off to meet worker needs;
- guarantee job protections and anti-retaliation protections;
- allow gender neutral parental leave to promote gender equity in the workplace; and
- include an education and awareness campaign.
- The duration of paid leave that is necessary for employees to care for themselves, their child or a loved one, during a long-term illness or injury varies greatly, according to the World Policy Center:Footnote # 6
- For personal medical leave, six months is important to cover severe illnesses, such as cancer that requires chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment. However, some workers may be able to return to work part-time or intermittently while undergoing treatments, and leave can be shorter for less serious injuries or illnesses.
- Paid personal medical leave should also be made available on a part-time and intermittent basis for workers in the chronic phases to encourage follow-up and ongoing care.
- For children, parental presence is important for the full duration of the illness; however, during periods of recovery, this care can be split between parents or other close caregivers. Employers should work with employees to determine an optimal schedule of paid time off based on the child’s illness or injury.
Range of Practices in the United States
- The US is one of the few developed, industrialized nations that does not require paid family and medical leave by federal law.
- As of March 2022, just 43 percent of the private sector workforce has access to short-term disability insurance through an employer.Footnote # 7 Short-term disability insurance is used to cover income during a long-term medical leave.
- As of 2015, federal contractors must provide at least seven days of paid sick and family medical leave to employees for preventative care, an existing health condition, illness or injury.
- Thirty percent of private industry workers have access to paid military leave.Footnote # 8
- In February 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that employers who provide paid short-term leave for sickness, bereavement or jury duty must also pay employees who take short-term leave for military service.
- Under NC law, employers are required to offer unpaid leave for employees called into active or emergency military duty. The statute does not specify how much leave may be taken, but the amount of leave is typically determined by the length of the employee’s military service. Paid leave is not required.
Case Study
Location: Offices in Charlotte, Raleigh, Morrisville • Year Founded: 1845 • Number of Employees: Over 84,000
Consulting firm Deloitte, with offices in Raleigh, Charlotte and Morrisville, recruits approximately 20,000 employees each year.
That means Deloitte is constantly evaluating ways to attract and retain talent. According to Supporting Working Caregivers: Case Studies of Promising Practices, a 2017 report from the ReACT Coalition, Deloitte discovered that “flexibility to meet both professional and personal demands emerged as a key factor in both recruitment and retention, particularly for high performers, and employee surveys revealed that eldercare—which requires flexibility—was increasingly among their personal responsibilities.”
With CEO Cathy Engelbert’s support, the company expanded its family leave program in September 2016, allowing all full-time employees to take up to 16 weeks of paid time off annually for caregiving for new children and other family members, including aging parents. Employees may use the time all at once or periodically throughout the year.
“Flexibility to meet both professional and personal demands emerged as a key factor in both recruitment and retention, particularly for high performers.”
In addition to paid leave, Deloitte provides 30 days of subsidized emergency backup dependent care, which includes adult relatives of employees, and the company also provide consultations for employees regarding eldercare needs, along with referrals to providers, coaching to help manage and navigate complicated systems and programs, and therapy for the stress that may accompany caregiving responsibilities.