Message
I put together a document (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mMeFVZ4dmAnpgyy1w-wfqiUUeAmfo-4p/view?usp=sharing) with arguments supporting the idea of retroactive paid parental leave for federal employees; that is, arguments for extending the upcoming paid parental leave to cover births between December 20, 2019 (the date the 2020 NDAA passed) and September 30, 2020. I think it is unlikely at this point that Congress will pass any legislation supporting the idea of retroactive parental leave, but it never hurts to reach out to your representatives and senators. I also suggest appealing to leadership at your own agency to see whether it is possible to create a new category of leave to cover these new parents. While I don't think this is possible, independent agencies like the FAA and the FDIC did it, so maybe there is hope. Either way, I think it is an important conversation to have since this affects approximately 50000 federal employees. The document touches on a lot of issues, such as:
* the FEPLA diverges from existing paid parental leave programs,
* maternal and paternal health suffers during the pandemic,
* the fear new parents have of COVID-19,
* the uneven implementation of existing OPM guidance for caregivers,
* the FEPLA harms retention,
* Congress members support retroactive leave,
* other agencies offer paid parental leave, and
* estimated costs.
While my short document cannot elucidate the problem as well as things like a huge study by the UK government (https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5801/cmselect/cmpetitions/526/52602.htm) can do, I hope this gets across the point that new parents are suffering and could benefit from the leave. Even without the pandemic, a good argument can be made that the law was written poorly and should cover parents from the day it passed in December 2019.
Also, if you are not a federal employee, many of the arguments and references are useful for trying to get paid parental leave implemented at your own employer.
* the FEPLA diverges from existing paid parental leave programs,
* maternal and paternal health suffers during the pandemic,
* the fear new parents have of COVID-19,
* the uneven implementation of existing OPM guidance for caregivers,
* the FEPLA harms retention,
* Congress members support retroactive leave,
* other agencies offer paid parental leave, and
* estimated costs.
While my short document cannot elucidate the problem as well as things like a huge study by the UK government (https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5801/cmselect/cmpetitions/526/52602.htm) can do, I hope this gets across the point that new parents are suffering and could benefit from the leave. Even without the pandemic, a good argument can be made that the law was written poorly and should cover parents from the day it passed in December 2019.
Also, if you are not a federal employee, many of the arguments and references are useful for trying to get paid parental leave implemented at your own employer.
I put together a document (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mMeFVZ4dmAnpgyy1w-wfqiUUeAmfo-4p/view?usp=sharing) with arguments supporting the idea of retroactive paid parental leave for federal employees; that is, arguments for extending the upcoming paid parental leave to cover births between December 20, 2019 (the date the 2020 NDAA passed) and September 30, 2020. I think it is unlikely at this point that Congress will pass any legislation supporting the idea of retroactive parental leave, but it never hurts to reach out to your representatives and senators. I also suggest appealing to leadership at your own agency to see whether it is possible to create a new category of leave to cover these new parents. While I don't think this is possible, independent agencies like the FAA and the FDIC did it, so maybe there is hope. Either way, I think it is an important conversation to have since this affects approximately 50000 federal employees. The document touches on a lot of issues, such as:
* the FEPLA diverges from existing paid parental leave programs,
* maternal and paternal health suffers during the pandemic,
* the fear new parents have of COVID-19,
* the uneven implementation of existing OPM guidance for caregivers,
* the FEPLA harms retention,
* Congress members support retroactive leave,
* other agencies offer paid parental leave, and
* estimated costs.
While my short document cannot elucidate the problem as well as things like a huge study by the UK government (https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5801/cmselect/cmpetitions/526/52602.htm) can do, I hope this gets across the point that new parents are suffering and could benefit from the leave. Even without the pandemic, a good argument can be made that the law was written poorly and should cover parents from the day it passed in December 2019.
Also, if you are not a federal employee, many of the arguments and references are useful for trying to get paid parental leave implemented at your own employer.
* the FEPLA diverges from existing paid parental leave programs,
* maternal and paternal health suffers during the pandemic,
* the fear new parents have of COVID-19,
* the uneven implementation of existing OPM guidance for caregivers,
* the FEPLA harms retention,
* Congress members support retroactive leave,
* other agencies offer paid parental leave, and
* estimated costs.
While my short document cannot elucidate the problem as well as things like a huge study by the UK government (https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5801/cmselect/cmpetitions/526/52602.htm) can do, I hope this gets across the point that new parents are suffering and could benefit from the leave. Even without the pandemic, a good argument can be made that the law was written poorly and should cover parents from the day it passed in December 2019.
Also, if you are not a federal employee, many of the arguments and references are useful for trying to get paid parental leave implemented at your own employer.
OPM has posted an interim rule on paid parental leave [1] to the Federal Register for publication on August 10. This is the guidance agencies will use to craft their parental leave policies.
For those that were hoping for the leave to be retroactive...things do not look good. As stated in the original Federal Employee Paid Leave Act (in Section 7602 of the NDAA [2]), any birth before October 1 will not get leave. This is clearly reflected in the OPM guidance. Unfortunately, there is no way to waive this requirement as it is law. The only way to change this is through another act of Congress.
To enact change, I suggest that you reach out to your representatives [3] and senators [4] via phone, sign the following petition [5], and leave a comment on the interim final rule [6]. Ask to be put in contact with someone that works on these issues. I have been doing this for a number of Congress members for a couple months using some arguments [7] I put together a while ago. I would definitely recommend reaching out to Carolyn Maloney [8] as she is the main Congress member who is actively fighting [9] to make this leave retroactive and crafted the original legislation.
[1] https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2020-14832
[2] https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/s1790/BILLS-116s1790enr.pdf
[3] https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
[4] https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
[5] https://www.change.org/p/federal-employee-paid-leave-act-paid-maternity-leave-for-government-employees-due-before-october-1st-2020
[6] https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/08/10/2020-14832/paid-parental-leave#open-comment
[7] https://drive.google.com/file/d/15hFss28N1By7orQZY_4DmdGxnfJfocVC/view?usp=sharing
[8] https://maloney.house.gov/contact-carolyn
[9] https://federalnewsnetwork.com/benefits/2020/05/house-democrats-call-for-retroactive-expansion-of-paid-parental-leave-to-federal-employees/
For those that were hoping for the leave to be retroactive...things do not look good. As stated in the original Federal Employee Paid Leave Act (in Section 7602 of the NDAA [2]), any birth before October 1 will not get leave. This is clearly reflected in the OPM guidance. Unfortunately, there is no way to waive this requirement as it is law. The only way to change this is through another act of Congress.
To enact change, I suggest that you reach out to your representatives [3] and senators [4] via phone, sign the following petition [5], and leave a comment on the interim final rule [6]. Ask to be put in contact with someone that works on these issues. I have been doing this for a number of Congress members for a couple months using some arguments [7] I put together a while ago. I would definitely recommend reaching out to Carolyn Maloney [8] as she is the main Congress member who is actively fighting [9] to make this leave retroactive and crafted the original legislation.
[1] https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2020-14832
[2] https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/s1790/BILLS-116s1790enr.pdf
[3] https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
[4] https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
[5] https://www.change.org/p/federal-employee-paid-leave-act-paid-maternity-leave-for-government-employees-due-before-october-1st-2020
[6] https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/08/10/2020-14832/paid-parental-leave#open-comment
[7] https://drive.google.com/file/d/15hFss28N1By7orQZY_4DmdGxnfJfocVC/view?usp=sharing
[8] https://maloney.house.gov/contact-carolyn
[9] https://federalnewsnetwork.com/benefits/2020/05/house-democrats-call-for-retroactive-expansion-of-paid-parental-leave-to-federal-employees/
Anonymous wrote:My (independent) agency is implementing the paid-leave effective May 1. Anyone who has a kid before that date will be covered by our current policy (a mix of STD for moms and if a dad using up to 8 weeks of sick to care for mom and baby immediately post-birth).
I am also going to bump this thread because I would like to know which agency this is. I am guessing this is either FDIC or SEC based off of existing news articles.
I have been talking to various legislators arguing that the paid parental leave should be retroactive (similar to what is being done in this other agency's policy by allowing the leave to be used within 1 year of birth). These have been my talking points:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15hFss28N1By7orQZY_4DmdGxnfJfocVC/view?usp=sharing
Whoever this poster is I would appreciate it you could send me a private message (on this forum by creating an account) or post some more details about this policy.
I have a feeling you might be mixing some things up. Just to clear, there are two separate programs but they interact with one another.
DCFMLA is like job insurance. It means that if you have a baby, your job will still be there for you after you take some leave. This is an old program that has existed for a few years already. The type of leave does not matter, as you can take paid leave, unpaid leave, short term disability, etc. but that is totally up to you. It allows you to stay away from work up to 16 weeks for medical and 16 weeks for family during a 24 month period. So for instance you could do 8 weeks medical and then 16 weeks family and then still have your job (or something "similar" to your job) available when you get back. This program is better than federal FMLA. Since it is better than the FMLA program, this program supersedes federal FMLA and you get the benefit of the better program. These are the eligibility requirements for DCFMLA:
* Employed by the employer for at least one year without a break in service
* Worked at least 1,000 hours during the 12 month period immediately preceding the requested leave
DC Paid Family Leave (DCPFL) says that you can take paid leave after pregnancy that will get you a percentage of your wage back. The most you will get are 8 weeks of paid leave. I think this is what you are referring to. The eligibility requirements are a bit more complicated so you might want to ask HR. The important questions are:
* Are you mainly based in DC (over 50% of your work time is there)?
* Does your employer pay unemployment insurance to DC? If so, they are most likely paying the employer tax that pays for DCPFL.
* Or simply ask whether you would be eligible for DCPFL.
July 1, 2020 is called the effective date. This is the date when DC can start paying out claims for paid leave. My understanding from what I've been reading is that it is not a cut-off, so your May birth is fine. What still needs to be determined is whether you can put in your paperwork before this date. If you can, then you can start getting paid for family leave on this date. If they don't start paperwork until this date, you won't be able to take your paid leave until after they process your paperwork.
So just to give you an example in your situation (using made up numbers since I don't know your leave balances). You could take 2 weeks of sick leave, 3 weeks of vacation, and then 8 weeks of DCPFL. That means you have used 2+3+8 = 13 weeks of paid leave. According to DCFMLA you can now take 11 weeks of unpaid leave (or paid leave if you can find a funding source) and expect to have your job when you get back.
Much of what I said is based on what they posted on the DCPFL website. They haven't officially posted guidance yet, so you might need to wait a few months to get a true answer to your question.
References:
DC FMLA - https://ohr.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ohr/publication/attachments/DCFMLA_Poster_March2016.pdf
DC PFL - https://dcpaidfamilyleave.dc.gov/resources/
Edit: Changed months to weeks. Thanks for pointing that out!
DCFMLA is like job insurance. It means that if you have a baby, your job will still be there for you after you take some leave. This is an old program that has existed for a few years already. The type of leave does not matter, as you can take paid leave, unpaid leave, short term disability, etc. but that is totally up to you. It allows you to stay away from work up to 16 weeks for medical and 16 weeks for family during a 24 month period. So for instance you could do 8 weeks medical and then 16 weeks family and then still have your job (or something "similar" to your job) available when you get back. This program is better than federal FMLA. Since it is better than the FMLA program, this program supersedes federal FMLA and you get the benefit of the better program. These are the eligibility requirements for DCFMLA:
* Employed by the employer for at least one year without a break in service
* Worked at least 1,000 hours during the 12 month period immediately preceding the requested leave
DC Paid Family Leave (DCPFL) says that you can take paid leave after pregnancy that will get you a percentage of your wage back. The most you will get are 8 weeks of paid leave. I think this is what you are referring to. The eligibility requirements are a bit more complicated so you might want to ask HR. The important questions are:
* Are you mainly based in DC (over 50% of your work time is there)?
* Does your employer pay unemployment insurance to DC? If so, they are most likely paying the employer tax that pays for DCPFL.
* Or simply ask whether you would be eligible for DCPFL.
July 1, 2020 is called the effective date. This is the date when DC can start paying out claims for paid leave. My understanding from what I've been reading is that it is not a cut-off, so your May birth is fine. What still needs to be determined is whether you can put in your paperwork before this date. If you can, then you can start getting paid for family leave on this date. If they don't start paperwork until this date, you won't be able to take your paid leave until after they process your paperwork.
So just to give you an example in your situation (using made up numbers since I don't know your leave balances). You could take 2 weeks of sick leave, 3 weeks of vacation, and then 8 weeks of DCPFL. That means you have used 2+3+8 = 13 weeks of paid leave. According to DCFMLA you can now take 11 weeks of unpaid leave (or paid leave if you can find a funding source) and expect to have your job when you get back.
Much of what I said is based on what they posted on the DCPFL website. They haven't officially posted guidance yet, so you might need to wait a few months to get a true answer to your question.
References:
DC FMLA - https://ohr.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ohr/publication/attachments/DCFMLA_Poster_March2016.pdf
DC PFL - https://dcpaidfamilyleave.dc.gov/resources/
Edit: Changed months to weeks. Thanks for pointing that out!
Hey, everyone! If you are unaware, the government just gave federal employees a massive new benefit by passing the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act which provides 12 weeks of paid leave to federal workers for the birth, adoption, or fostering of a child and is to be used within one year of the qualifying life event. However, it seems that by rushing out the act there are all sorts of issues (for instance, it forgot to include employees of the USPS and FAA). Congress is working on the Federal Employee Parental Leave Technical Correction Act to fix these issues. While these corrections are a step in the right direction, one thing that has not gotten much news is the wording of the effective date section in the original act:
What this says is that employees with a child born (or placed) between October 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020 are not eligible for the leave even though the act is written in a way to grant leave to people within a year of the baby being born (or placed). To put this in to perspective, the parents of a child born on September 30, 2020 at 11:59pm will not get leave but if the child is born one minute later on October 1, 2020 at 12:00am then the parents will get leave!
While OPM has not published any official guidance on the matter, I believe it is important to try to get ahead of the issue. If you feel like this is something important to you, you should contact your HR representatives, OPM (https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/contact-policymakers/), and your local representatives (https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative) and senators (https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm). I put together a document that I will be sharing with some lawmakers such as Senator Charles Schumer who sponsored the Federal Employee Parental Leave Technical Correction Act and Representative Carolyn Maloney who sponsored the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act. The document is available at the following link and lays out an equitable solution for the effective date problem:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15hFss28N1By7orQZY_4DmdGxnfJfocVC/view?usp=sharing
I imagine the number of federal employees impacted by the wording of the effective date in the act is small so this is a first step in getting their voice heard. Feel free to share this. Thanks for hearing me out.
tl;dr: We are getting parental leave! Yay! It doesn't happen until October? Boo! So I wrote a long document arguing it should be retroactive. Share it!
EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section shall not be effective with respect to any birth or placement occurring before October 1, 2020.
What this says is that employees with a child born (or placed) between October 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020 are not eligible for the leave even though the act is written in a way to grant leave to people within a year of the baby being born (or placed). To put this in to perspective, the parents of a child born on September 30, 2020 at 11:59pm will not get leave but if the child is born one minute later on October 1, 2020 at 12:00am then the parents will get leave!
While OPM has not published any official guidance on the matter, I believe it is important to try to get ahead of the issue. If you feel like this is something important to you, you should contact your HR representatives, OPM (https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/contact-policymakers/), and your local representatives (https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative) and senators (https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm). I put together a document that I will be sharing with some lawmakers such as Senator Charles Schumer who sponsored the Federal Employee Parental Leave Technical Correction Act and Representative Carolyn Maloney who sponsored the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act. The document is available at the following link and lays out an equitable solution for the effective date problem:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15hFss28N1By7orQZY_4DmdGxnfJfocVC/view?usp=sharing
I imagine the number of federal employees impacted by the wording of the effective date in the act is small so this is a first step in getting their voice heard. Feel free to share this. Thanks for hearing me out.
tl;dr: We are getting parental leave! Yay! It doesn't happen until October? Boo! So I wrote a long document arguing it should be retroactive. Share it!