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Congressional Democrats plan to try again to push paid family leave though this session, even though the bill has yet to make it out of committee in either the House or the Senate.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says this would allow workers to take up to 12 weeks per year to care for a newborn or a sick family member...or to recover themselves. She says a lot of businesses are supporting the idea. "They know that every day that goes by without a national paid leave program, workers will continue to lose income, they'll continue to lose their jobs and businesses will continue to lose employees."
While the idea has not caught on at the federal level, a growing number of states either have or will have a paid leave program in place. New York's goes into effect next January. Like the federal plan, it will allow for up to 12 weeks per year of paid leave. The measure was approved by the legislature and signed by Gov. Cuomo last year.