The sponsor of the Healthy Delaware Families Act — which seeks to create a statewide family and medical leave insurance program allowing employees to take off up to 12 weeks, with pay — is confident her amended, substitute bill will pass this legislative session, even though it is adamantly opposed by some lawmakers and small-business owners.
State Sen. Sarah McBride, who co-sponsored the bill with state Rep. Debra Heffernan, will discuss amendments to the original Senate Bill 1 and why she believes it is needed in Delaware, and will answer questions when she speaks at the Georgetown Area Chamber of Commerce at noon on Wednesday, March 2.
The substitute bill, SS 1 for SB 1, would “provide a simple and affordable solution to alleviate some commonly experienced financial pressures” and “create a family and medical leave trust fund in Delaware modeled after similar programs already operating in nine other states and the District of Columbia,” McBride said.
Those states have higher worker morale and productivity, lower turnover costs and greater economic security for working families, she said.
Under the bill’s provisions, leave would be paid for by a payroll contribution that McBride said would be less than 1 percent of an employee’s weekly pay and divided between the worker and employer. The trust fund would cover up to 80 percent of the cost of 12 weeks of leave.
The New Castle County senator’s substitute bill does not automatically include parental leave for businesses...
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