Images (82)
Showing first 60 of 82 pages.
Document
| id |
id
621050382
|
|---|---|
| contentType |
contentType
document
|
| source |
source
import
|
Source image fields (6)
Extracted text
OCR Page 1 of 8206/08/99 TUE 10:38 FAX 202 219 8506
ETA/UIS
1
002
UI FOR NEW PARENTS
Fact Sheet
A 1996 study by the Commission on Family and Medical Leave found that wage loss was
the most significant barrier to parents taking advantage of unpaid leave following the
birth or adoption of a child.
On Sunday, May 23, 1999, President Clinton directed the Secretary of Labor to propose
new regulations and model State legislation to enable States to develop innovative ways
of using the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program to support parents taking leave to
care for a newborn or newly-adopted child.
States today have significant flexibility in designing their own UI programs. Legislation
was introduced in several States during this and prior years to provide UI benefits to
workers on some form of leave to meet family obligations. The Administration was
asked whether the UI program can be used for such purposes consistent with Federal UI
law. Under new regulations that the Department of Labor (DOL) will propose, the States
will be able to use UI to assist new parents.
It is worth noting that paying UI to parents on leave following birth or adoption appears
to be a logical extension of the UI program. All States already pay UI to workers who are
laid off but whom the employer expects to recall. Providing paid leave for employees
who have just become parents and need to take some time away from the job is somewhat
analogous to this and other current uses of the program.
States that wish to participate in the program proposed by the President will need to
amend their laws. The UI program is authorized under the Social Security Act and the
Federal Unemployment Tax Act but operates under laws specific to each State. These
State laws determine how workers qualify for benefits within federal guidelines.
The DOL will work with the States that have expressed interest this year in the course of
issuing its regulation so that these States will be in a position to implement, at the first
possible opportunity, appropriately structured plans to use UI to assist new parents.
Whether the same people will be covered as under the FMLA, benefit duration, and other
benefit issues, as well as employer costs issues, will be addressed during the rulemaking
process. The DOL anticipates that the proposal will allow States to spread costs broadly
throughout the system, rather than limiting costs to the particular employers whose
employees use this benefit.
It is difficult to predict when individuals will be able to receive benefits. The DOL must
first issue regulations and model State legislation, and States must then change their own
laws. DOL expects rules will be published around January 2000.
This new nogrum will he whorly volume for M state