Workers who qualify will be able to get two-thirds of their pay up to $524 a week for no more than six weeks -- an amount that could make the difference between being able to pay the bills and financial ruin when a health emergency strikes. It took 12 years to pass this bill, despite the fact that the paid leave will be funded by individual employee payroll deductions of about 64 cents a week. I'm in. And despite the fact that long-running fears that employees would abuse the system and ruin would befall the companies that must approve their leave never came to pass in California, which led the nation in paid leave.
Washington is the third state that offers paid leave. To find out where your state stands on paid leave, check out this paid leave roundup on the California Paid Family Leave site. Would paid leave have made a big difference at a pivotal point in your life, past or present?
