Iowa family advocates call for more paid leave

DES MOINES — Iowa working family advocates are calling on lawmakers to expand a measure that provides paid leave for state employees who are sick or taking care of loved ones. But the measure does not extend to tens of thousands of other Iowans who are forced to take unpaid time off from their jobs or go to work sick. Iowa House File 889 made up to four weeks of paid leave available for a birth parent and a week for a spouse.

Iowa ACE 360’s Mary Nelle Trefz says the law only covers state employees, which excludes tens of thousands Iowans who don’t have that benefit and don’t qualify for time off under the federal Family Medical Leave Act.   “The majority of Iowans, about 60%, don’t even have access to unpaid leave because either they’re working for a smaller organization that is not subject to the federal requirement under FMLA or because it is unpaid, they simply can’t afforded the time off.”

Trefz says the lack of unpaid leave is becoming more difficult for a growing portion of Iowa’s workforce, many of whom are part of what’s known as the “sandwich generation.” “So, not only are they taking care of their own children, they also are beginning to play a caretaker or provide additional support to a parent who might need extra care, time or attention.”

Trefz says the lack of paid leave is also difficult for people to navigate in Iowa, which has the nation’s highest percentage of households with two working parents. Prior to the passage of H-F 889, four out of five Iowans didn’t have access to paid family leave at all. The measure went into effect this summer.