Parental leave expansion passes state Senate, heads to Assembly

Legal Aid at Work Staff Attorney Julia Parish and fellow advocates pose in Sacramento after Senate passes SB 63, New Parent Leave Act.
Legal Aid at Work Staff Attorney Julia Parish and fellow advocates pose in Sacramento after Senate passes SB 63, New Parent Leave Act.

California’s Senate has passed a bill to provide job security for millions more parents when they take leave to bond with a new child. We helped draft and cosponsored the New Parent Leave Act, SB 63, which state Sen. Hannah Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) introduced and championed.

Other organizations promoting and cosponsoring the bill include the California Work & Family Coalition, California Employment Lawyers Association, and First 5 California. Read our floor alert to see the full list of organizations supporting this essential measure.

Currently, more than 40 percent of workers can’t take a single day to bond with a new child without worrying they’ll lose their job, even though they contribute to California’s Paid Family Leave insurance program. That’s because their employers have fewer than 50 workers within 75 miles of their workplace.

SB 63 would extend job protection to nearly 2.7 million more workers by covering employees who work for employers with 20 to 49 workers.

Many of our clients and callers have lost their jobs or have been threatened with job loss simply for trying to do what’s right for their families – take time to bond with their newborn, newly adopted or new foster kids.

Beyond the unfairness of workers paying into the Paid Family Leave program but being unable to receive its benefits, the job protections provided by SB 63 will mean that many more parents and children can reap the important health benefits of parental leave. If this bill becomes law, millions more families will be able to be together when it matters most.

The New Parent Leave Act now heads to the Assembly.

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