Iowa family advocates call for more paid leave

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 thousand 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.

But Iowa ACEs 360’s Advocacy Network Director Mary Nelle Trefz said 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,” said Trefz, “because either they’re working for a smaller organization that is not subject to the federal requirement under FMLA, or because it is unpaid, so they simply can’t afforded the time off.

Prior to the passage of HF 889, four out of five Iowans didn’t have access to paid family leave at all. The measure went into effect this summer.

Trefz said 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,” said Trefz, “they also are beginning to play a caretaker or provide additional support to a parent who might need extra care, time or attention.”

Trefz said 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.