Report: Unpaid maternity leave presents major gap for employee wellness
In data from Breeze, women who did not have some form of disability insurance to cover their maternity leave losses were forced to draw down savings, borrow or take on a side job.
For U.S. workers who are new parents, gaps in employment law for women (and men) taking time away from work to care for a newborn can pose steep financial burdens.
The Family and Medical Leave Act stipulates that eligible workers must be allowed 12 weeks of leave in a calendar year to care for a newborn child, within one year of the child’s birth. However, workers are not required to be paid during this period. The company only has to ensure a worker’s job will still be there when they are ready to come back to the job.
However, unpaid leave can be devastating for employees as they are forced to spend their savings or borrow money to cover the lack of income.
According to data from Breeze, 20% of women who went on maternity leave without some form of disability insurance to cover their time away had to dig into emergency savings. Seventeen percent took on credit-card debt and only 11% said they budgeted for the loss ahead of time.
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