Researchers To Examine Paid Family Leave For Madison Workers

Madison is getting a $155,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to study paid family leave for city workers. The study will help city and University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers determine the need and cost of providing paid family leave for Madison’s 2,700 full-time employees.

Madison City Councilwoman Shiva Bidar–Sielaff was one of two alders proposing the study. City employees could use the paid time after a child is born or adopted and also to care for ailing family members, Bidar–Sielaff said.

“It has shown to provide the kind of support that they need for young children, their family members, and really create a better balance of support systems in the community,” Bidar–Sielaff said.

The study will take a year to complete.

The U.S. Department of Labor claims 12 percent of private-sector workers get paid family leave through their employer.

Bidar–Sielaff said the city could be a model for other employers, public and private. However, it would have to be voluntary.

In 2011, Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill pre–empting local ordinances from requiring community-wide paid sick leave to employees for family, medical or health issues. Walker took this action after Milwaukee voters approved an ordinance requiring all employers to provide paid sick leave. In 2006, Madison also tried to get a citywide policy, but failed.

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act already requires all public and private companies with 50 or more workers to provide 12 weeks of leave a year, but it’s unpaid. Madison is one of six areas of the country getting grants from the U.S. Department of Labor to study paid family and medical leave.

The five other municipalities sharing $1.1 million in grants to study the feasibility of developing and expanding statewide paid family and medical leave programs are in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Hawaii, Colorado, and Ohio.

Correction: An earlier version said Gov. Scott Walker signed the bill pre-empting local ordinances from requiring community-wide paid sick leave to employees for family, medical or heath issues in 2010, the correct year was 2011.