New Paid Leave Resources

CLASP is pleased to share new briefs on paid family and medical leave provisions in the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and the need for comprehensive, permanent paid family and medical leave in future recovery packages.

Paid Family and Medical Leave and Paid Sick Leave Provisions in the American Rescue Plan Act 

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP), which provided millions of workers and their families relief amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. While the bill doesn’t reinstate the requirement that employers provide emergency paid leave, it does extend and expand the tax credits to employers that choose to provide paid leave. Although this opt-in system is important for those workers lucky enough to have employers offering it, it still leaves out millions of workers. This fact sheet details the eligibility and uses of the emergency paid leave provisions under the American Rescue Plan Act.

Economic Recovery Must Include Job-Protected Paid Family and Medical Leave

Policymakers have an opportunity in the next economic recovery package to pass inclusive and comprehensive paid leave – like the recently re-introduced Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act – and ensure workers get the most critical components of an equitable and accessible paid leave program. A comprehensive, equitable paid leave program must safeguard workers by including provisions  like job protection, funded education and outreach, inclusive family definitions, and progressive wage replacement. 

Please share these resources widely:

Sample Tweets on Need for Job-Protected Leave

1. Policymakers have an opportunity in the next economic recovery package to pass inclusive & comprehensive paid leave. But an equal recovery for all workers requires a #paidleave program with strong worker protections. https://www.clasp.org/publications/fact-sheet/economic-recovery-must-include-job-protected-paid-family-and-medical-leave
2. Workers earning low wages are less likely to know about, access, or benefit from #paidleave programs when they lack protections like inclusive family definitions, progressive wage replacement, funded education/outreach & job protection. https://www.clasp.org/publications/fact-sheet/economic-recovery-must-include-job-protected-paid-family-and-medical-leave
3. #Paidleave policies themselves aren’t sufficient – we need policies that workers are aware of and can access without fear. Comprehensive and inclusive paid leave means a program with worker protections that workers can easily and safely access. https://www.clasp.org/publications/fact-sheet/economic-recovery-must-include-job-protected-paid-family-and-medical-leave

Sample Tweets on ARP's Leave Provisions

1. A year into the pandemic, parents still struggle to work, maintain their families’ economic security & care for children who would normally be in school. Thru #AmericanRescuePlan, employers can offer workers emergency #paidleave in exchange for tax credits https://www.clasp.org/publications/fact-sheet/paid-family-and-medical-leave-and-paid-sick-leave-provisions-american-rescue
2. A year into the pandemic, parents still struggle to work, maintain their families’ economic security & care for children who would normally be in school. Thru #AmericanRescuePlan, employers can offer workers emergency #paidleave in exchange for tax credits https://www.clasp.org/publications/fact-sheet/paid-family-and-medical-leave-and-paid-sick-leave-provisions-american-rescue