More Californians could take paid family leave under bill heading to Gov. Newsom

Californians who work for small businesses could soon have an easier time taking off work to care for new babies or sick relatives under an expansion of California’s paid family leave law that Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to sign.

California a decade and a half ago passed one of the nation’s first paid family leave laws to let workers take time off when a family member is sick or they have a new baby. Workers pay into the program and then earn the benefits via disability insurance.

Although all workers must pay the taxes that fund the program, only those that work for businesses with at least 50 employees are guaranteed the ability to take that time off. Smaller employers aren’t required to let their workers take family leave or ensure their job will be waiting for them when they return.

Senate Bill 1383 would expand that job security requirement to businesses with at least five workers, giving more people the opportunity to take off up to 12 weeks of family leave. The legislation is part of the budget deal Newsom struck with legislative leaders this year, though lawmakers didn’t pass it along with the other budget bills in June after it faced fierce opposition from some lawmakers who said it would decimate very small businesses.

Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, amended the bill to exempt employers with fewer than five employees. She says the bill would make family leave more equitable, let more people stay home if a family member has COVID-19 and keep elderly people with their families and out of nursing homes.

Jenna Gerry, a work and family program attorney with Legal Aid at Work, said the measure would help remedy California’s “inequitable” employment security system that disproportionately leaves out low-income and workers of color. Gerry said the COVID-19 pandemic has only highlighted the challenging decisions certain families are making to either care for a sick family member or risk losing their jobs and financial stability.

“This is so important to make sure that workers are going to feel safe, that if they have COVID-19, have been exposed to COVID-19, or a family member has COVID-19, they can stay home and recover and take care of themselves or family members knowing they have a job to come back to,” Gerry said.

Republicans and several moderate Democrats raised concerns with the bill during committee hearings and floor sessions, arguing the expansion would devastate small businesses during a pandemic that’s already put them in economic peril.

“Without question, family leave is a social good,” said Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin.

But, he added, “This bill goes about the goal in all the wrong ways...this bill will sound a death knell for even more small businesses across California.”

When it passed the Senate, Republicans and several moderate Democrats said they didn’t support the bill because it would devastate small businesses during the pandemic that has already put them in economic peril.

“To put a policy like this in place at a time when business owners aren’t even sure they are going to make it is incredibly irresponsible,” said Sen. Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore.

Several Democratic senators voted no on the bill or didn’t vote. Sen. Melissa Hurtado, D-Sanger, said she wanted to support the bill, but could not after speaking with a host of small business owners in her Central Valley district and determining the bill would hurt many minority-owned businesses that she represents.

The measure narrowly passed the Senate in July with a 21-12 approval, with several Democrats not voting. The Assembly voted 41-15 in favor of the bill before sending it to Newsom, who has championed the policy proposal and is expected to sign it.

This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 12:00 AM with the headline "More Californians could take paid family leave under bill heading to Gov. Newsom."