5 Benefits of Paid Family Leave to Share With Employees

New York Paid Family Leave offers groundbreaking benefits to employees and their families. But a lot of employees will probably head into 2018 with little information. They may question the small deduction from their paychecks. Help them appreciate and understand their new benefits by touching on these five key points.

1. PFL is great for new parents.

New parents can take time to bond with a newborn, adopted or foster child with job protection and partial paid time off, after requesting PFL in advance and filing a claim. This gives them time from the beginning to start making memories as a new family. Parents welcoming a new child in 2017 may even be able use PFL after January 1, 2018. (Learn more in Time to Bond: Paid Family Leave for New Parents.)

2. PFL lets employees care for sick relatives.

People get sick. You never know when it will happen to someone you love. PFL doesn't cover every type of relative or of medical issue, but it does give employees job protection and partial paid time off while helping out if a family member has a serious illness or injury. PFL can be taken in one-day increments, or in longer blocks of time — up to eight weeks in 2018. Employees can schedule intermittent leave to take relatives to doctor appointments and other regularly scheduled care.

3. PFL supports military personnel.

Employees can take a leave to help keep a family running smoothly while one member is away on active duty. This type of leave allows employees to fill the gaps in child care and other core responsibilities with job protection and partial paid time off. (Read more in Military Matters: Align Paid Family Leave With FMLA.)

4. PFL doesn't impact health insurance.

Employees can claim PFL knowing their health coverage isn't going anywhere while they're on leave. Health plans, premiums and automatic paycheck deductions remain the same. If the company health plan changes during an employee's leave, that employee can rely on being offered the new or changed plan at a similar level after a leave.

5. PFL increases job security and gives peace of mind.

PFL is considered job-protected leave. Employees can take the time they need to bond with a new child or take care of a family member in need with peace of mind that their jobs will be there when they return. They'll also receive a partial income replacement with a weekly benefit that will allow them to continue with their normal life. For 2018, the weekly benefit is 50 percent of the employee's average weekly wage, capped at 50 percent of the New York State average weekly wage for up to eight weeks of leave during a 52-week period.

To find out more about PFL and other regulations that affect employees, follow The Standard on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter with the hashtag #PaidFamilyLeave, and subscribe   to this blog's RSS feed to receive updated content as new information becomes available.

For more details about New York Paid Family Leave, visit: ny.gov/programs/new-york-state-paid-family-leave.