Paid Family Leave and the "Family Act"

Here's one of my lovely little political posts. 

I belong to a PAC called Moms Rising.  It is comprised of progressively-minded mothers (and those who love them!) who want to fight for what is best for our families - not only from an individual standpoint, but from a standpoint of making this country a better place so that we all can benefit.

Today I found information from them about an upcoming act that is being presented to Congress - the Family Act.

It will work to secure paid family leave - including paid maternity leave.  You can read more about it and sign on here.

Did you know that the US is one of only four countries that don't offer paid leave to new mothers?

Did you know that the US is one of only seven countries that don't GUARANTEE paid leave to new mothers?  The others are Papua New Guinea, Suriname, Nauru, Palau, Samoa and Tonga.

Seriously?

I was talking about this with a friend the other day.  We were talking about how in many other countries that we would consider similar in many ways, there is amazing leave.  A friend of mine in Canada just had a baby and she got 6 months of paid leave, and the option to take 6 more without it.  Plus, her husband got three months paid leave.  THREE MONTHS WHERE BOTH PARENTS WERE HOME TO CARE FOR THEIR CHILDREN AND ESTABLISH THOSE IMPORTANT BONDS AND SKILLS TO CREATE A POSITIVE FAMILY.

When I had my daughter a year ago, I quit my job.  I was an 'hourly manager' at a restaurant and since the FLMA requires 12 weeks of UNPAID leave with only a guarantee to return to a similar position, I was told I could probably end up back working as a hostess, server or some other place that was hourly, but not necessarily equivalent.  I was working for a large chain that has plenty of resources and ability to
do more for me, but nope - at the end of the day, I was just another expendable body.

Now - before I am labeled as a crazy woman, please note.  I get it.  I understand that this is a capitalist society.  We live in a culture where life is driven by money.  (Sucks, doesn't it?  But that's a fact, so there's no working around it.)  We see paid family leave and we think of loss of income and revenue, we see people taking advantage of the support, and we see no positive outcomes.

Well, yes.  It may hurt for a bit.  But here's what we will get in the end -
happier employees.  Happier employees perform better on the job.  They also stay with companies longer because they have more sense of loyalty.  Better performing employees and increased employee tenure with less turnaround make for increased profits, income and revenue. 

I like that!  And so should we.  Paid family leave is NOT a bad thing, and it will help - not hurt.
I know that we seem to think in terms of immediacy - we always look at the NOW rather than the long run.  Amazon.com was featured on 60Minutes the other night and one of their high ranking employees (I don't remember if it was the CEO or such) said that he wasn't worried about the 2-3 year gain, but more about the 6-7 year gain.  They can sell some of their products AT COST (Kindle Fire), and they can have lower prices, because in the long run they'll have customer loyalty and people who go to them first, because they like the experience they get with Amazon.  Well, it's true.  I'm a member of Amazon Prime and have been for years.
So  why not invest in employees the same way Amazon invests in consumers?
Look at companies that do good things for their employees - look at SAS and at Costco and many others.  They're doing well!  And part of it is because they take care of their staff.

So please - go to the link above, write your congresspeople and SUPPORT the Family Act!