New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) yesterday signed a bill expanding the state’s paid family leave law in a number of ways—notably, by expanding the definition of “family” under the law to include chosen families and by expanding the definition of “parent” to include foster parents and those who become parents via gestational surrogacy.
The new law will double the time of paid leave from six to 12 weeks; increase the amount paid from two-thirds to 85 percent of a person’s salary (capped at $860); and explicitly allow people to take time off to care for themselves or a family member who is a victim of domestic or sexual violence, among other provisions. Importantly for LGBTQ people as well as many others, the law now defines “parent” to include those who foster a child or become a parent via gestational surrogacy, allowing them to take family leave, and it defines “family member” to include individuals “that the employee shows to have a close association with the employee which is the equivalent of a family relationship.”
“New Jersey is now the first state in the nation to offer paid family leave that is inclusive of all families,” according to the Center for American Progress, which also observed in a statement, “Making paid leave available to chosen family is especially important to LGBTQ people and people with disabilities, as they are disproportionately likely to need time off to care for chosen family.”
More specifically, the new law states:
“Parent” means a person who is the biological parent, adoptive parent, foster parent, resource family parent, step-parent, parent-in-law or legal guardian, having a “parent-child relationship” with a child as defined by law, or having sole or joint legal or physical custody, care, guardianship, or visitation with a child, or who became the parent of the child pursuant to a valid written agreement between the parent and a gestational carrier.
and:
“Family member” means a child, parent, parent-in-law, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, spouse, domestic partner, or one partner in a civil union couple, or any other individual related by blood to the employee, and any other individual that the employee shows to have a close association with the employee which is the equivalent of a family relationship.
Most states and employers do not provide these broad definitions, however. A survey by the HRC Foundation Public Education & Research team last March found that only 45 percent of all survey respondents said their employer had LGBTQ-inclusive leave policies. However, responses varied across industry, with financial services at 64 percent and hospitality/food service at 32 percent. Even employers that offered paid parental leave may still also, intentionally or not, exclude LGBTQ families: Only 48 percent of respondents said their employer’s policies cover new parents of all genders equally. Similarly, just 49 percent said their employer’s policies are equally inclusive of all paths to parenthood.
Some companies are taking steps to be more inclusive of all families, even when states are not. I recently wrote at Bay Windows about MassMutual’s recent policy changes to let employees define their own loved ones for the purpose of family leave and other employee benefits. And with the number of LGBTQ parents expected to grow dramatically in the coming years, policies and laws that support them in balancing work and life will become ever more important to a productive workforce and to our country’s economy.
New Jersey also recently became the second state (after California) to require schools to teach about LGBT history and the contributions of LGBT people to our society. Bravo, Garden State!