Nearly three decades ago, President Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) into law, guaranteeing eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year. In 1996, the bipartisan Commission on Family and Medical Leave released a report stating that only “slightly more than half (54.9 percent) of U.S. workers . . . actually [met] . . . the requirements for taking leave” under FMLA. Based on recent data, the number of employees eligible for FMLA has hardly changed: only around 56 percent of U.S. employees are currently eligible. In addition to the narrow scope of coverage, FMLA also lacks several key protections shared by the vast number of developed countries: namely, paid parental leave. While the protections afforded by FMLA are limited by the standards of the developed world, the law still represents the U.S.’ most sweeping and only successful attempt to “help employees balance work and family life” through a federal leave law. In fact, mothers in the U.S. are the only women in the developed world that lack support from a specific national policy that grants paid time off to bond with and care for their infants. To supplement unpaid leave coverage with paid coverage, mothers are likely to use up their sick and vacation pay or utilize short-term disability insurance if offered by their employer where wage replacement is up to 66% of their income. This means that if these women get sick or have an emergency later in the year, they have no leave time left to utilize.
Given the narrow scope of FMLA coverage and concomitant lack of paid leave protections, some states have responded with their own leave laws, leaving the U.S. with a patchwork of family and medical leave protections. In most cases, states simply expanded the coverage for unpaid leave to those working for private employers with less than 50 employees. Despite the fact that paid family and medical leave has only been adopted by a handful of states, the reshuffling of the U.S. labor market due to the COVID-19 pandemic (where more women dropped out of the labor force, and the most affected industries employ more women) and long-term demographic trends may finally signal a paradigm shift. Across the country, the prospect of paid family and medical leave draws significant—not to mention rare—bipartisan support, particularly among women voters.
As Utah lawmakers face mounting calls for legislative actions to address the lack of state leave laws, the following White Paper provides lawmakers and policy advocates with an overview of state leave laws across the country and a discussion of the effects of expanded family and medical leave. Finally, this paper concludes with targeted recommendations for Utah.
In addition to the protections afforded by FMLA, there has been a proliferation of state leave protections implemented over the past couple of decades. In many cases, states have simply bolstered the coverage of FMLA to cover employees working less than 1,250 hours per year or employees working for smaller employers. Additional states have created completely new forms of protected employee absences, such as crime victim leave, voting time-off, and school-related leave. Ultimately, the most notable departure from the scope of FMLA has been the growing number of states to adopt paid family and medical leave protections.
In Utah, economic trends and demographic transformations are starting to challenge the state’s longstanding deference to the protections afforded by FMLA. Utah is within the top third of U.S. states for the percentage of women who are workforce participants (61 percent). Additionally, Utah women are becoming more politically and economically active, accounting for a growing percentage of elected office seats and new business activity. The state’s fertility rate has continued to decline, of which insufficient leave policies could be a contributing factor for future Utah parents that are facing a rising cost of living—particularly for housing. This has taken away many parents’ economic ability to withdraw from the labor market for a number of years to focus on childrearing. Finally, the state’s growing number of residents from California, Oregon, and Washington may portend an eventual political shift, though the true effect of the so-called “liberal exodus” remains to be seen.
While it seems unlikely that Utah legislators will face serious pressure to adopt a California-style paid family leave program anytime soon, the trend of advocacy around expanded leave protections—such as paid family leave for state employees or expanded FMLA eligibility—appears likely to continue. Amidst the growing bipartisan conversation on paid family leave, Utah leaders would thus be well-advised to explore alternative pathways to “help employees balance work and family life,” thereby realizing the untapped potential of the “Utah Way.” In addition to potential expansions of the coverage for unpaid leave (i.e., FMLA), this White Paper proposes the following initial recommendations based on a review of the 50-state analysis of state leave laws:
Today, an estimated 47.7 percent of Utahns are younger than our state’s most substantive leave protection: FMLA. In the 28 years that have followed the law’s passage, the state has experienced unprecedented socioeconomic transformation, producing one of the world’s youngest and most dynamic labor markets. While the economic and demographic landscape of our state has transformed, the aging protections afforded by FMLA have failed to keep up with the demands of Utah women. As Utah women continue to expand their presence on the state’s political and business scene—as leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals—state legislators will need to flex the renowned dynamism of the “Utah Way” to find new ways to help employees balance work and family life and guarantee the continued success of Utah working parents for years to come.
To learn more about leave laws, read the full white paper.
This research synopsis, in partnership with scholars from around the state, provides a collection of data points that move the conversation from individuals’ perceptions of Utah women’s experiences toward data-driven realities.
January Newsletter for the Utah Women & Leadership Project at Utah State University.
Women make up a significant proportion of the overall labor force in the state, but many are employed in low-paying jobs with limited room for advancement. This 2023 update includes female employment nationally and in Utah.
