The Obama Administration took another step in its efforts to compel employers to provide paid leave to workers today with the U.S. Department of Labor’s announcement of its investment of $1.25 million to research and analyze how paid leave programs can be developed and implemented across the country. The department’s Women’s Bureau will administer the funding opportunity.  See Paid leave effort gets $1.25M to study expansion in U.S.

According to today’s announcement, the Department of Labor will award up to 10 grants of up to $250,000 each. Eligible applicants include government entities from States, U.S. Territories and Possessions, counties and cities with at least 100,000 residents, and federally recognized Indian/Native American tribes with a population of at least 50,000. This funding opportunity builds upon a 2014 grant program that awarded a total of $500,000 to support paid leave feasibility studies in three states and the District of Columbia.

The grant opportunity was announced during a Google+ Hangout on paid leave that included Women’s Bureau Director Latifa Lyles, Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, and others. The Google+ Hangout was a virtual stop on the “Lead on Leave” tour, an effort by senior Administration officials to highlight the importance of paid leave for working American families.

The Department of Labor also announced that it will hold a webinar for prospective applicants on Wednesday, June 24, 2015, at 1:00 p.m. EDT. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions during the webinar. Interested prospective applicants must register for the webinar in advance of the event by clicking here.

Today’s announcement is part of an aggressive campaign by the Obama Administration to require employers to provide paid leave.  The Obama Administration estimates that  40 percent of private-sector employees work at a company that does not offer sick pay for their own illness or injury and that low- and middle-income workers are much less likely to be offered paid sick leave than highly paid workers. Disregarding concern about the added adverse effect on hiring and wages that business leaders and others say will result if the federal government burdens U.S. employers with additional paid leave, increased minimum wage and other mandates, the Obama Administration is moving forward on its plans to force U.S. employers to provide paid leave to workers.

In pursuit of this goal, while his party controlled both the House and Senate on December 21, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act, Public Law 111-119, which amended section 101(2) of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to establishes a special hours of service eligibility requirements for airline flight attendants and flight crew members that make it easier for these workers to qualify for FMLA Leave and expanded FMLA coverage for military families.  Over the past year, the Obama Administration also has amended its FMLA regulations to make clear that the Obama Administration expects private sector employers covered by the FMLA to offer family leave to same-sex domestic partners on the same terms as for heterosexual married couples in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Windsor decision.

Beyond these and other regulatory and administrative actions, the Obama Administration also is on the record for supporting further amendments to the FMLA to extend its mandates to smaller employers as well as to add federal mandates that would mandate that many employers allow their workers to earn up to 7 days per year of paid sick time, which to care for themselves or for a sick family member.

With Republicans now the controlling party in the House and Senate, however, Republican opposition has slowed the Administration’s efforts to advance this agenda legislatively.  As a result, the Administration, as it has done in many other areas where it is unable to garner the necessary support to achieve change legislatively, now is looking for other means to promote its objectives.   For instance, President Obama’s budget proposals called for millions of dollars of funding for a State Paid Leave Fund for the Department of Labor to use to help encourage states to enact paid leave mandates or other arrangements by helping to cover start-up costs for states that choose to launch paid leave programs as well as to provide additional funding to the Women’s Bureau at the Department of Labor to exploring options for improving the collection of data and the promotion of other funding to advance the Administration’s agenda for imposing added responsibilities on employers relating to parental leave, child care responsibilities, usage of family leave insurance programs, and other topics related to the intersection of work and family responsibilities.

Along with these efforts to impose added paid leave responsibilities upon private sector employers, the Obama Administration also wants to spend more taxpayer dollars providing additional paid leave for federal workers.  While federal workers already have access to paid sick leave and vacation time, this currently doesn’t include paid time off specifically for Federal employees to use when they have a newborn baby, or who choose to adopt or foster a child, have no paid leave that they can access specifically to meet those responsibilities. The Obama Administration is on record that it believes that the federal government should provide paid parental leave to federal employees to help federal employees to care for their families.

Today’s announcement confirms that the Obama Administration is working to expand employer paid leave mandates with or without Congressional approval.  Employers concerned about the potential costs and other burdens of such mandates should carefully monitor the studies and other activities of the Administration at the federal and state level and express any concerns to their elected Federal and state officials early and often to help ensure that these concerns are properly appreciated and taken into account.

For  Advice, Representation, Training & Other Resources

If you need help responding to these new or other workforce, benefits and compensation, performance and risk management, compliance, enforcement or management concerns, help updating or defending your workforce or employee benefit policies or practices, or other related assistance, the author of this update, attorney Cynthia Marcotte Stamer may be able to help.

Recognized as a “Top” attorney in employee benefits, labor and employment and health care law, Ms. Stamer is Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and Managing Shareholder of Cynthia Marcotte Stamer, P.C., a member of Stamer│Chadwick │Soefje PLLC, Ms. Stamer is a practicing attorney, author, pubic speaker, management policy advocate and industry thought leader with more than 27 years’ experience advising government contractors and other private sector and public employers, their management, benefit plans and plan fiduciaries, vendors and service providers and others about performance management and internal controls, OSHA and other safety and occupational injury management and compliance, OFCCP, EEOC, and other employment discrimination, government contracting compliance, and other workforce and operational performance, compliance, risk management, compensation, and benefits matters. Her work includes strategic planning and advice, contract, settlement and other negotiation, handbook and other policies and procedures, contract, employee benefit and other drafting, design, review and enforcement, real time crisis and other management response, investigations, defense, mitigation, training, management regulatory and legislative advocacy and other management representation.

In addition to her extensive client work Ms. Stamer also is a widely published author, management policy advocate and thought leader, and management policy advocate on these and other workforce and related matters who shares her experience and leadership in a wide range of contexts.  A current or former author and advisory board member of HR.com, Insurance Thought Leadership, SHRM, BNA and several other the prominent publications, Past Chair of the ABA RPTE Employee Benefit & Other Compensation Arrangements Group, Co-Chair and Past Chair of the ABA RPTE Welfare Plan Committee, Vice Chair of the ABA TIPS Employee Benefit Plans Committee, Vice President of the North Texas Health Care Compliance Professionals Association, Past Chair of the ABA Health Law Section Managed Care & Insurance Section, former President of the Richardson Development Center Board of Directors, and the former Board Compliance Chair of the National Kidney Foundation of North Texas, An American College of Employee Benefit Counsel, American Bar Association (ABA) and State Bar of Texas Fellow, Martindale Hubble Premier AV Rated (the highest), Ms. Stamer publishes and speaks extensively on these and other staffing and human resources, compensation and benefits, technology, health care, privacy, public policy, and other operations and risk management concerns. Her publications and insights appear in the ABA and other professional publications, HR.com, SHRM, Insurance Thought Leadership, Health Care Compliance Association, Atlantic Information Service, Bureau of National Affairs, World At Work, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insurance, the Dallas Morning News, Modern Health Care, Managed Healthcare, Health Leaders, and a many other national and local publications.

You can review other recent human resources, employee benefits and internal controls publications and resources and additional information about the employment, employee benefits and other experience of the Cynthia Marcotte Stamer, PC here. If you or someone else you know would like to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns, please be sure that we have your current contact information – including your preferred e-mail – by creating or updating your profile www.cynthiastamer.com or by registering to participate in the distribution of these and other updates on our HR & Employee Benefits Update here including:

• Employee & Other Whistleblower Complaints Common Source of HIPAA Privacy & Other Complaints
• Obama Administration Devoting $1.25 Million To Find Ways To Force Employers To Give Paid Leave
• IRS FAQ Addresses Determination Letter Program As Applied To Multiple Employer Plans
• 2016 & 2017 Health Plan Budgets, Workplans Should Anticipate Expected Changes To SBCs
• $1.4M FLSA Back Pay Award Demonstrates Worker Misclassification Risks
• Discrimination Rules Create Risks For Employer Reliance On Injunction Of FMLA Rule On Same-Sex Partners’ Marital Status
• Obama Executive Order’s Prohibition Of Government Contractor Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Discrimination Creates Challenges For All US Employers
• Congress Passess Joint Resolution Overturning NLRB “Quickie Election Rule”
• IRS Changes Plan Correction Procedures
• Texas Employers Top Target For EEOC Charges
• ACA Prohibits Employer Paying Individual Health Premiums For Employees, IRS Says Again
• Consider Fiduciary & Other Risk Management When Planning For ACA Transitional Reinsurance Costs, Other Plan Design Changes
• HIPAA Compliance & Breach Data Shares Helpful Lessons For Health Plans, Providers and Business Associates
• Review & Update Health Plan Notices, Language & Process For New Guidance On COBRA, Other Key Health Plan Rules
• EEOC Suit Against Pipe Fitting Business Shows Disability Discrimination Risks For Employers Hiring Vets With PTSD
• Post-Windsor Same-Sex Participant Guidance May Require Mid-Year Plan Amendments
• Arkansas Judge Finds Arkansas Same-Sex Marriage Bans Unconstitutional; State Asks For Stay Pending Appeal
• Businesses Employing Children Should Review & Tighten Practices In Light of Tightened Rules & Increased Penalties
• IRS Gives Ex Pat Plans Limited Exemption From ACA Reporting Rule
• Dermatology Practice To Pay $150K To Settle Charges It Breached  HIPAA Breach Notice Rule
• Careful Selection & Contracting With Vendors Critical Part of Health Plan Renewals
• Employers & Plan Fiduciaries Reminded To Confirm Credentials & Bonding For Internal Staff, Plan Fiduciaries & Vendors Dealing With Benefits
• 12 Steps Every Employer With A Health Plan Should Do Now To Manage 2012-14 Health Plan Risks & Liabilities
• Tighten Defensibility of Criminal & Other Background Check Practices In Light of Labor Department Non-Discrimination Regulation & Enforcement Emphasis

About Solutions Law Press, Inc.™

Solutions Law Press, Inc.™  provides human resources and employee benefit and other business risk management, legal compliance, management effectiveness and other coaching, tools and other resources, training and education on leadership, governance, human resources, employee benefits, data security and privacy, insurance, health care and other key compliance, risk management, internal controls and operational concerns. If you find this of interest, you also be interested reviewing some of our other Solutions Law Press, Inc.™ resources at www.solutionslawpress.com.

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