Leave policies for parents welcoming new children “still commonly exclude LGBTQ families,” according to a new report. And the harms of poor paid leave policies extend broadly to the LGBTQ community.
To mark the 25th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the HRC Foundation Public Education & Research team put out a 45-question survey to HRC social media followers and other online users this past December and January. They garnered 5,433 LGBTQ respondents from all 50 states, ages 18-90, and of varying identities, and conducted follow-up phone and email interviews with a number of respondents. Here are some of the sobering findings.
Overall, only 45 percent of all survey respondents say that their employer has LGBTQ-inclusive leave policies. However, responses vary across industry, with financial services at 64 percent and hospitality/food service at 32 percent.
When it comes to children in particular, nearly one in four respondents said they have previously taken time off to welcome a child, and about the same amount anticipate needing to do so in the next five years. Under FMLA, qualifying employees may take unpaid leave when welcoming a new child. Some employers may also choose to offer paid parental leave. These policies may, however, exclude LGBTQ families, intentionally or not: 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. For instance:
- Some company policies guarantee paid time off for new birth mothers but provide little or no time off for other new parents, including those whose partners give birth or who become parents through other means, including surrogacy, adoption, or foster care. For instance, a company that offers maternity leave for mothers may choose not to provide the same or any time off for a gay father who welcomes a child through surrogacy.
- Policies may only allow time off to care for newborn children, while not providing adoptive or foster parents the opportunity to bond with children adopted or placed at older ages.
- Other policies may require parents to have legal guardianship of a child in order to take parental leave. Given that some states require a six-month waiting period before an adoption can be finalized, LGBTQ employees may be denied time off in the interim, even if they are a primary caregiver for a new child.
Less than one in three respondents said their employer provides paid leave specifically to welcome a child and that they are eligible to use it. Others are forced into a kludged solution such as a combination of sick days and vacation days or unpaid leave. Ten percent said they would claim short-term disability for pregnancy, an option usually only available for the birth parent. Twenty-three percent of respondents said they didn’t know how they would take the time off.
Who’s harmed by all this? The children. As HRC notes:
Research studies show that parental leave can help ensure parents have ample time to properly bond with their new children, which is associated with positive physical and mental health benefits for all parents regardless of gender. This type of leave also results in better outcomes for newborn children, who are more likely to be breastfed, receive vaccinations, and be taken to the doctor when their parents have access to parental leave
But the harms also extend in other ways. The Obama Administration’s Department of Labor clarified that FMLA protections extend to employees who have “day-to-day” parental responsibilities, regardless of the legal or biological relationship. This protection particularly benefits LGBTQ youth, who are disproportionately likely to be rejected by their families of origin and more likely to live with an adult who serves as a de facto parent but is not their legal guardian.
In the other direction, the Department of Labor said FMLA lets employees claim leave to care for anyone who previously served as a parent to them when they were a child—particularly important given that many people who have been raised by LGBTQ parents grew up without a legal relationship with at least one of those parents.
HRC warns us, however, that the above guidance applies only to unpaid leave covered under FMLA. Employers may choose not to offer paid leave to employees in the same way, or may require employees to show proof of a biological or legal relationship with an immediate family member in order to claim it.
I encourage all of you to go read the full report, which also covers topics like leave to take care of a seriously ill spouse or chosen family member. It also offers suggestions for individuals and employers seeking to make positive change. While many corporations remain lacking in inclusive leave policies, others are leaders—and many corporations offered benefits to same-sex partners long before states and the federal government recognized marriage equality. It’s possible we could make further progress here even at a time when political change is unlikely. (Which is not to say we should let up on the political pressure, either.)
You can also stay informed with Family Equality’s list of the many state bills impacting family leave and by following organizations like Moms Rising, A Better Balance, and Zero to Three (which has a helpful, though not LGBTQ-focused, Paid Family Leave Advocacy Toolkit).