FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 2, 2023
CONTACT: [email protected]
One Country Project Proposes the Creation of FAMLY Program in Next Farm Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, One Country Project (OCP) presented its proposal for the creation of a Family and Medical Leave Yearly (FAMLY) program, a 12-week paid family and medical leave policy. This program would ensure that workers can take time off to care for a new child or a sick family member without risking their job or financial security. Today’s proposal is the final installment of OCP’s series of three policy pillars for the Farm Bill, focused on farm economics, local prosperity, and rural quality of life.
The United States is one of only seven countries without national paid maternity leave, or another form of paid family leave. American workers, forced to take unpaid leave or to leave the workforce entirely to serve as caregivers to their families, lose an estimated $22.5 billion in wages every year.
“Everyone, at some point in their lives, will bring home a new baby, fall ill, or tend to an elderly parent – but caregiving shouldn’t jeopardize your job. Too often, Americans are forced to choose between their work and their loved ones’ well-being,” said members of the One Country Project Board of Directors. “The next Farm Bill can provide workers with much-needed paid leave to attend to medical needs without the additional worry of future financial insecurity.”
In Living and Working in Rural America, OCP officially calls on Congress to establish a FAMLY program that would:
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Extend to workers welcoming a new baby or adopting a child; experiencing the death of a child, spouse, partner, or parent; or the worker’s own illness;
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Provide 100 percent wage replacement for up to 12 weeks of time off in any given calendar year for workers making up to 200 percent of the poverty line, which would reduce incrementally depending on earnings to 70 percent wage replacement for workers making 400 percent of the poverty line or more;
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Enable employees to access up to 12 weeks of additional unpaid leave under the existing Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provisions after they have used their 12 weeks under the FAMLY program; and
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Prevent workers covered under the combined 24 weeks of family and medical leave from being fired, demoted, or otherwise denied return to their job by their employer.
The FAMLY program would improve worker retention for employers, increase productivity, and provide an overall increase in workforce participation, boosting rural economies’ productivity.
Read Living and Working in Rural America here.
See OCP’s Farm Bill priorities here.
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About One Country Project
Rural America holds an essential role in moving the United States forward and the One Country Project is dedicated to ensuring Rural America’s priorities and values are heard and reflected in policy at the federal level. To learn more, visit us at www.onecountryproject.com or on Twitter or Facebook.