President Biden delivers address to Congress

Senior living and care operators soon could be required to provide workers with 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, thanks to President Joe Biden’s newly proposed American Families Plan.

Amid a joint session of Congress last night, Biden unveiled the $1.8 trillion spending and tax credits plan, part of his ongoing effort to try to revitalize the nation and ensure a more equitable recovery from the COVID-10 pandemic. 

Within 10 years, Biden’s plan would guarantee workers 12 weeks of paid leave, which they could use “to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill loved one, deal with a loved one’s military deployment, find safety from sexual assault, stalking or domestic violence, heal from their own serious illness or take time to deal with the death of a loved one,” according to an outline released by the White House.

According to the plan, workers could receive up to $4,000 a month while they’re off, with at least two-thirds of their average weekly wages replaced. The lowest-wage workers would get 80% of their prior earnings. Biden’s plan also would give workers three days of bereavement leave per year, starting in year one. 

“Paid family leave will help overstretched care workers, as well as family caregivers juggling caring for an older relative with their job,” said Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, in a statement Wednesday. “Employers will benefit, too, from improved worker retention.”

A December survey of more than 440,000 working parents at some 1,200 companies found that employees who work for companies that offer generous paid parental leave and other parental benefits report higher rates of retention and engagement.

“This plan extends paid leave to millions of low wage working people in Black and Latinx communities who have previously lacked access to this policy the most, putting racial justice and economic equity at the center of our country’s post-COVID recovery,” said Paid Leave for the U.S. interim Executive Director Molly Day. “Paid leave will also be critical for counteracting the ‘she-cession’ that was worsened during the pandemic and ensuring that women can fully participate in the workforce.”

The national paid family and medical leave program would cost approximately $225 billion over a decade, according to the federal government, and the White House says that amount would be paid for mostly by increasing taxes on the wealthy.