New York Bill Would Provide Bereaved Workers Three Months Paid Family Leave

A new bill in New York is seeking to add paid family leave for employees who have recently lost a loved one.

Currently in New York people can take paid family leave time following the birth of a child or to take care of a family member who is ill. The new bill has already passed both the state assembly and senate and is going to be reviewed soon by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The new bereavement addition to the state’s Paid Family Leave Law would cover the death of a spouse or domestic partner, child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent or grandchild. The overarching law, which went into effect this past January, allows workers to collect a percentage (between 50 and 65 percent as the law is phased in) of the statewide average weekly wage.

The average weekly wage is currently $1,357, which means the most anyone could receive on paid family leave is roughly $680 per week. The law also prohibits employers from stopping health insurance and guarantees the worker will have the same or comparable job when they return.

The bill is sponsored by state Sen. Richard Funke and co-sponsored by state assembly Majority Leader Joseph Morelle and state Sen. David Carlucci.

“I’ve experienced the pain of losing a child,” said Carlucci in a statement. “The grief can be unpredictable and overwhelming. No employee should have to fear losing their job in order to take the time they need to mourn.”

Opposition Largely Economic

Seemingly the only opposition to the proposed paid family leave addendum comes from small business owners. They say it would put an economic burden on them and could negatively affect their bottom lines.

Small businesses could be negatively affected by the new proposal

Losing a staff member for up to three months could create the need to hire short-term replacements, creating an awkward and unfair scenario.

“[For] our business and any other small business it would be catastrophic,” said Greg Greenwood, owner of Bleeker Street Pizza. “Twelve weeks paid leave. We need all the staff that we have.”

Tom Grech, president of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, echoed similar sentiments: “For a small business, I don’t know how anybody could survive with anything like that. At the end of the day, New York City and New York state are among the most expensive places to do business in the country. This just puts another burden on small businesses.”

New York would become the third state in the country to offer the time off benefit for bereavement and the second to provide paid family leave. If signed by Gov. Cuomo the bill would go into effect January 1, 2020.