Public Pensions and Employee Benefits.

• Position: Brief Article

"Parental Leave as Unemployment"

Calvo, Cheye

State Legislatures, October/November 2000, pp. 26-29.

This article discusses proposals in state legislatures to use unemployment insurance funds to give parents paid birth/ adoption leave. The first attempt at using unemployment insurance benefits to provide paid birth/adoption leave was made in the Vermont legislature in 1997. The proposal was stopped by the U.S. Department of Labor, which stated that it would violate the federal law that unemployment recipients must accept employment or lose benefits. However, in June 2000, the U.S. Department of Labor changed its position and issued a Federal Rule that allows states to use their unemployment compensation funds to pay up to 12 weeks of unemployment benefits to employees on birth/adoption leave. Following this rule, legislators in 15 states introduced bills to grant paid family leave. Without a specific federal law on paid parental leave, the federal rule can be challenged in the courts. Dramatic changes in the labor market, child...