Massachusetts has been especially creative. When the state s acting governor, Jane Swift, gave birth to twin daughters in May, she drew attention to the issue with her own working maternity leave : she telecommuted part-time but earned her usual full-time salary. Even before Swift returned to work last week, the state Senate unanimously passed a pilot plan that would use surplus funds from a health-insurance program for the unemployed to give new parents 12 weeks off at half pay. Another plan, proposed in the House, would require employers to kick in $20 per worker to set up a New Families Trust Fund. Businesses would get tax credits in return. This week Swift is expected to announce her own paid-leave plan for lower-income mothers and fathers. Polls show widespread public support--another reason Swift and other politicians across the country have embraced the issue.
Still, not everyone s wild about the idea. People without children question why new parents--the first group to get paid leave under many of the proposed plans--should get more government perks than they do. Business groups are resistant to proposals that would raid unemployment funds; several have already filed suit to block them. As the economy slows, many companies say they can t afford to contribute to proposed new benefit funds either. Business lobbyists say too many employees already abuse existing federal family-leave laws by taking time off for dubious reasons or in tiny time increments. The proposed laws, they say, would only make matters worse.
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