Jen Rini

The News Journal

A proposal would give full-time state workers 12 weeks of paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child.

Three states have similar benefits.

About 12 percent of private sector workers have access to paid family leave.

Planning for new baby Cora went beyond making sure the Sebastians had enough formula and diapers.

Parents Lori and Colin wanted to make sure they'd be able to stay home with her after she was born and still be able to pay the bills.

Lori, a third grade teacher in the Appoquinimink School District, saved sick days and filed for short-term disability in order to take a 9-week maternity leave. But Colin had to quit his job with Dover Downs Hotel and Casino Concierge Services so he could stay home with Cora and avoid high daycare costs after Lori goes back to work.

Neither of their employers offered paid leave.

Paid maternity and paternity leave in the United States is not guaranteed for state workers like Lori nor those in the private sector, like her husband. Families often have to make tough choices that could mean choosing a job to make ends meet over spending time with a child.

"I am the sole bread winner," Lori, 36, said. "If I don’t go back to work ... I can lose a paycheck."

Their predicament is not unique. About 12 percent of private sector workers have access to paid family leave.

The government's Family Medical Leave Act allows employees of businesses with more than 50 workers to take 12 weeks of unpaid leave during the course of a year to care for a newborn, adopted or foster child, family member or address serious medical conditions. States can expand the law as they see fit.

But many families cannot afford to go without a paycheck. Sometimes there is a cost-benefit analysis. Is it worth it to stay home without a paycheck, or go back to work earlier and pay for day care?

Three states – California, New Jersey and Rhode Island – have paid family leave. Their plans require private sector employees and some state workers to pay into a family leave fund which is then used to support people when they are out of work for a new child or emergency.

But that tide may be changing, at least in Delaware.

A bill in the state Legislature would give full-time state workers employed for at least one year 12 weeks of paid leave upon the birth or adoption of a child under 6 years old. This law would not apply to private sector workers, but would help teachers like Lori.

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The 12 weeks would expire one year after birth or adoption. If both parents are state workers, they'd each be eligible for 12 weeks.

Employees would still be able to use accrued sick leave on top of those weeks.

"It's time for Delaware to lead on leave," said Rep. Debra Heffernan, D-Edgemoor, the prime sponsor of the legislation.

The paid leave plan for state employees comes with a $1.85 million price tag to account for overtime and substitute teacher costs. Even though the budget already is tight, Heffernan is optimistic it will be funded since it fits in with the state's push to support early education.

"To me, the earliest childhood educators are the parents, so it fits right in line with the focus of our state," she said. "The benefit is much higher than any cost."

Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have expressed a desire to reform paid family leave in the United States and President Barack Obama's 2016 budget includes more than $2 billion in new funds to encourage states to create paid leave plans.

A poll conducted by political strategy firm Lake Research Partners and the National Partnership for Women and Families surveyed over 1,000 likely 2016 voters and found that 76 percent favored a law that would establish a national paid family and medical leave fund.

The three states that offer paid leave fund the programs through employee-paid payroll taxes. So employers have to pay into the system.

A proposed federal law, called the Family And Medical Insurance Leave Act backed by the National Partnership for Women and Families, would establish 12 weeks of paid leave for parents, caregivers or workers with a serious health emergency under the same funding mechanism.

Workers would contribute about $1.50 per week to the fund. Social Security deductions by comparison are about 6.2 percent, said Vicki Shabo, vice president of the National Partnership for Women and Families.

"What we are talking about is a very, very small portion," Shabo said. "We have long recognized that the Family Medical Leave Act doesn't provide the wage protection people need to take leave. They just can't afford to take leave without pay."

Lori Sebastian "wanted a baby forever."

But outside of childbirth, she said making sure her family would be able to pay bills and care for Cora was the "scariest thing I've ever been through."

"The biggest issue right now is the financial burden if something were to happen to me, my husband or my baby," she said. "If we got paid leave whether it was six weeks, eight weeks, 12 weeks ... that would save my sick time for when I really need it."

"To be home with your baby would be amazing and not have to worry: "Can you have groceries this week? Can you afford formula"," Lori added.

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Statewide paid leave policies

Private businesses in Delaware can craft maternity and paternity leave plans individually.

A study of California's paid leave policy, which was enacted nearly 10 years ago showed that 90 percent of respondents reported no negative effects in terms of productivity, profitably, retention and morale.

Though there are benefits, Heffernan said she is not looking to legislate paid leave for the private sector. Many employers already offer paid leave, and the state needs to catch up, she said.

"This proposal is only focused on state workers at this point," she said.

A survey of private sector businesses from the Delaware Department of Labor found that the availability of paid maternity and paternity leave from 2005 to 2010 remained constant. In the 2010 survey, 95 large firms, with over 100 employees, responded, as well as 421 small firms and 164 businesses with less than 10 employees.

Seventy large businesses offered paid maternity leave and 37 provided paternity leave. However of the small and very small business categories, only 57 provided maternity leave and 38 provided paternity leave.

When it comes to paid leave for small businesses, "we don't see it in the marketplace," said Raymond Bree, president and chief executive officer of Diamond State Financial Group. It can be costly, especially if multiple people are out at once, he said.

Bree said his company offers up to 12 weeks of unpaid medical leave even though they have less than 50 employees. They also provide short-term and long-term disability coverage.

"We have a pretty rich benefit package. If life happens and you use up your vacation and you use up your sick time, your partner is critically ill...We have a program in pace to allow you to have unpaid leave."

By comparison, Amazon, which has expansive facilities in Middletown and New Castle that employ about 3,500 people, this year is offering 20 weeks of paid leave to all full-time hourly and salaried employees who have been with the company for more than one year. Birth mothers can also take up to four weeks of paid leave before giving birth.

One Christiana Care Health System employee, who didn't want to be named for fear of losing her job, said she was incredulous the largest labor and delivery hospital in the state didn't offer paid leave, yet just won baby-friendly designation for supporting maternal health and breastfeeding.

"I just thought it was ridiculous," she said.

During her recent maternity leave from the hospital she said she only received two paychecks.

The employee, who just returned to work after being on maternity leave with her first child, said she and her husband put aside a separate savings account to make up for the lost checks.

"We definitely want to have more kids," she said. "I'll probably have to take more of it unpaid for child number two."

Christiana Care did not respond to request for comment, but according to its employee handbook the hospital offers 12 weeks of unpaid leave and in certain circumstances the opportunity for employees to take "unprotected leave or Christiana Care Leave (CCL)."

Health benefits

In addition to employee morale, paid leave can help the well-being of the parents and baby, said Dr. Cathy Zorc, president of Delaware's chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

"Children are just starting to look at you well and smile and interact more," Zorc said. "When they are about two months they are really giving more back to the parents. So when parents go back to work at six weeks they don’t even get to enjoy that space and I think that makes it stressful.

"When we have working parents with young newborns, life revolves around the parents' work schedule and not the baby's needs," she said.

Lori Sebastian knows that when her weeks-old Cora dreams, the newborn goes through all ranges of emotion. She cries, smiles and wiggles, sometimes in the span of minutes.

But she also knows that time spent with her has been a luxury.

When she and her husband were trying to get pregnant they had to strategically plan how to use her sick time. Since she has worked for 15 years as a teacher, she was able to save 50 days.

"A lot of people exhaust their sick time with their first baby," Lori said.

They plan to have a second child so she saved 15 days to put toward that baby. Then once she goes back to work in April she will be able to accrue more sick time. She is able to bank one sick day for every month she works, which amounts to about 10 sick days a year.

"Luckily I've accrued this time," Lori said. "There are a lot of people when they get those 10 days they use it every year. They take time and pray their husbands work."

Colin works part-time from home to take care of Cora. Day care was akin to a "mortgage payment," he said.

They don't know how they'd do it if only one parent were home. You do wake up 3 to 5 times a night, Colin said.

"We are learning how to be parents," he said.

They are considering having a second child, but would hold off if it looks like the proposed law for state workers will pass.

Until the laws change, however, the Lori will continue to save sick time.

"You have to worry about this now," Lori said. "Once you have a kid it’s too late."

Jen Rini can be reached at (302)324-2386 or jrini@delawareonline.com. Follow @JenRini on Twitter.