1. Strategies for Outreach and Education
PAID FAMILY LEAVE
Strategies for Outreach and Education

2. Federal Rights to Family Leave
If you need to take time off from work because there is a new child in the family or you need to care for a seriously ill family member, what rights do you have?
Under the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act, some workers in the US have the right to take up to 12 weeks of leave and be guaranteed their job back BUT there are large holes in the FMLA:
It only applies to workplaces with 50 or more employees
It only applies if you have worked 1250 hours in a year
IT IS UNPAID

3. Paid Family Leave In the States: Current Overview
There are three states with paid family leave programs that were added to their disability leave programs: California (effective 2004 ); New Jersey (eff. 2009); Rhode Island (eff. 2014).
New York passed paid family leave as an addition to their disability program in April 2016; goes into effect January 2018
Other than Hawaii no other states have disability programs on which to build paid family leave
New states will be more challenging – but on Tuesday Washington DC passed paid family leave!!

4. Current Family Leave Programs
All programs are universal among private employers
All programs cover bonding with a new child for both mothers and fathers, for adopteds as well as birth parents
All programs cover care for a seriously ill family member
All programs are insurance programs funded by payroll deductions from employees (except Washington DC which is employer paid)

5. Amount of leave, benefit levels, job protection vary
CA and NJ provide 6 weeks of paid family leave; RI provides 4 weeks (CA provides 52 weeks of medical leave; NJ provides 26 weeks of medical leave; RI up to 30x weekly benefit rate)
NY will provide 12 weeks of paid family leave when fully phased in (26 weeks of medical leave)
DC will provide 8 weeks for parental leave, 6 weeks for family leave and 2 weeks for own medical leave
CA, NJ and DC provide no additional job protection beyond the FMLA (which fails to cover 40% of workers); RI and NY provide full job protection for all those receiving paid family leave benefits

6. The Good News… Paid family leave helps families
In CA in first 10 years, 1.8 million PFL claims were processed for $4.6 billion in benefit payments (90% of claims for bonding and 10% for family care) with positive effects on:
Ability to care for a new baby or adopted child.
Ability to arrange child care compared to 49 percent of those who did not use PFL.
Ability to breast feed lengthening duration of breastfeeding for low wage and higher earning mothers
Increased male bonding leaves – claims by men for bonding doubled in ten years in CA
Use of PFL has increased the likelihood of mothers returning to work after child birth.
Sources: Eileen Appelbaum and Ruth Milkman, Leaves That Pay (2011); Employment Development Department, State of California, Paid Family Leave Market Research (July 2015; rev December 14, 2015)

7. BUT MAJOR PROBLEM: Lack of Awareness
Studies in CA where the paid family leave program has been in effect for over 10 years found of those eligible for the program 74% with a qualifying event did not apply
Major reason for not applying – lack of knowledge about the program (52%) and lack of knowledge that they had paid for it (35%)
Lower wage workers less likely to know about the program than higher wage workers
Source: Employment Development Department, State of California, Paid Family Leave Awareness Survey Project Data Report (August, 2016)

8. Least Likely to Know About PFL
Those with income under $50,000
Males
Hispanics
Those without a college education
Never married
Adoptive parents

9. Lack of Knowledge of Details
Even among those who knew the program existed in CA, lack of knowledge about:
Length of time provided (under half)
Amount of money provided (under half)
How to apply (35%)
Source: Employment Development Department, State of California, Paid Family Leave Awareness Survey Project Data Report (August, 2016)

10. What Can We Do?
Outreach and education have to be an essential part of any paid family leave program – as important as other policy points
Important to include dollars for conducting a campaign
Important to include specifics on how outreach and education will be done
A good state website is not enough

11. Model Language for Inclusion
Requirement of public education: The Department shall conduct a public education campaign to inform workers and employers regarding the availability of family and medical leave insurance benefits.
Requirement of funding: The Department may use [X%] of the funds collected for the family and medical leave insurance benefits program in a given year to pay for the public education program.
Requirement of multiple languages. Outreach information shall be available in English, [X, X,] and other languages spoken by more than [X%] of the state’s population.

12. Important to Look at How People Find Out About PFL and Gear Outreach
Most found out from employers (43%)
Family and friends (38%)
Mass media sources (TV, radio, newspaper) (26%)
Only 20% said they would go to the state website for information
Other studies showed medical providers as sources
Source: Employment Development Department, State of California, Paid Family Leave Awareness Survey Project Data Report (August, 2016)

13. Need Outreach Plan
Need to include those who workers look to for information, trusted sources like medical providers, social service providers, community service groups, unions as well as employers
Need buy in and training of these sources
Need to do outreach beyond the first year of the program; California experience – dedicated funding for first year and good uptake during that year but then fall off
Need clearly readable information
Need information in multiple languages
Essential to communicate step by step process for accessing benefits

14. Evaluation Need to build in evaluation of the program
Need to analyze public knowledge of program
Need to look at differentials in access to paid family leave
Need to analyze where gaps in information are
Need to assess outreach strategies to see what is working