Executive Summary: Paid Family and Medical Leave and Employer Private Plans
By Chantel Boyens, Jack Smalligan and Patricia Bailey
With new state laws expanding paid family and medical leave (PFML) and momentum growing for a federal policy, it is more critical than ever to ensure that state and federal policymakers create equitable programs that are accessible to all workers. Currently, over 33 million workers lack access to paid leave. The small share that gain access to paid leave do so through voluntary employer-provided benefit plans or through a state-administered paid leave program, but access is spread unevenly amongst workers.
This paper looks at the use of private plan options in the context of state-administered paid family and medical leave programs, describing how states approve and monitor private programs and how the interaction between public and private affect workers’ equitable access to benefits and employer take-up of private plan options.
