The Association called for a voluntary federal paid leave standard and detailed the significant compliance problems posed by the proliferation of state and local paid leave laws in comments to the U.S. Department of Labor anticipating a potential federal paid leave law.
An end to the patchwork: HR Policy’s comments on state and local paid leave laws noted, “These laws…vary in scope and administration with very little overlap, and are typically enacted without meaningful consideration of their interaction with other paid leave laws.” The Association highlighted the problems multistate employers face complying with requirements in the different jurisdictions, which make crafting and administering a uniform paid leave policy for employees nearly impossible.
A federal standard that is both flexible and efficient: The Association advocated for a federal solution that is “carefully tailored to assimilate existing employer leave policies, and with benchmarks ensuring adequate leave for employees” which it argued “is in the interest of all stakeholders.” The Association further noted that at least some degree of preemption of state and local laws is necessary, at least to the extent that employers who comply with the procedural requirements of a federal standard are shielded from liability on the state and local level with respect to such requirements.