Isn’t it great to get paid time off? Isn’t it even better to get long periods of paid time off? There’s a new push in Michigan to give workers exactly that. Haven’t heard the details? We’ve got you covered!
Here are Five Fast Facts on paid family leave in Michigan:
- 🤮 What Is It? The basic idea is that the government would provide income for workers who were taking care of sick family members for a period of time so they don’t risk losing their jobs and income. Since no federal policy exists in America, some states have made their own. Yay federalism!
- ⏲️ The Proposal - The current proposal would cover most or all of the weekly income for workers caring for sick family members or dealing with other health emergencies for up to 15 weeks every year. Identical bills have been introduced in both the House and Senate, but no committee hearings have been held yet so it still has a ways to go. And probably a lot more bickering to be done.
- 👍 Love it! - Supporters say paid family leave is basically a civil right, allowing workers to avoid the choice between caring for family members or earning their Paycheck. It also helps keep workers from quitting just because they can’t go without a Paycheck, which means employers pay less in hiring and training costs. Twenty-three percent of workers in MI currently have paid family leave. Yep, that’s why there’s a lot of cheerleaders on this one!
- 👎 No, Thanks… - Opponents say the cost of this program is essentially a payroll tax on all businesses that only benefits some workers. It’s also a huge expense that roughly 80% of small businesses say will be harmful to their business by driving up costs (this would, in turn, also raise prices for customers). Seventy-five percent of small businesses already offer some form of paid family leave, and say that a one-size-fits-all required policy would limit their ability to offer the benefits that their specific employees actually want. There’s only so much benefits funding to go around, you know?
- 🌎 Around The World - Most other advanced countries have some form of paid family leave. However, in most cases we see that for various reasons it mostly benefits high income earners rather than low income earners, which only furthers income inequality. Seems like they’re solving the wrong problem… 🤔
🔥Bottom line: A number of other states have implemented some version of paid family leave, and the idea is always super popular…at least until you tell taxpayers how much they have to pay for it. It is a noble and wonderful idea, but these things aren’t free. The real question is whether we think the results are worth the cost.
What do you think?
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