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  • New York has always been at the forefront of progressive legislation, and this time, it has set a benchmark poised to change the landscape of working families’ lives. April 19, 2024, marked a historic moment for pregnant employees in New York state. Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law an unprecedented amendment to the New York Labor Law  § 196-b, establishing a standalone entitlement to paid prenatal leave, the first of its kind in the United States.

    Understanding The Paid Prenatal Leave Amendment

    Under this new law, expectant mothers can now use up to 20 hours of paid leave within a 52-week period to attend prenatal medical appointments and procedures. This initiative is part of New York’s final budget for fiscal 2025 and is a significant stride in supporting prenatal health and well-being.

    Key Features Of The Law

    • Immediate availability: The 20 hours of paid prenatal leave is immediately available upon employment, ensuring that pregnant employees don’t have to accrue this benefit over time.
    • Hourly increments: Leave can be taken in hourly increments, offering flexibility to pregnant employees.
    • Compensation: Employees will be compensated at their regular pay rate or the applicable minimum wage, whichever is greater, for the duration of the leave.
    • Additional leave: This paid prenatal leave is in addition to existing paid sick and family leave entitlements.

    The Impact On Employers And Employees

    Employers must update their leave policies to reflect this change by January 1, 2025. This law not only benefits employees but also encourages employers to cultivate a supportive workplace culture that values family and health.

    Employers should revise their leave policies to incorporate the new paid prenatal leave. In addition, it’s crucial for HR and benefits teams to be well-informed about the law and its implications. Pregnant employees now have a more robust safety net for their prenatal care without worrying about financial repercussions. This law emphasizes the importance of health and family, enabling expectant mothers to prioritize prenatal care.

    The Sunset Of COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Law

    Coinciding with this development, the final budget also sets July 31, 2025, as the end date for the COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Law that has been in effect since March 2020. The COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Law provides employees who are subject to a COVID-19 mandatory, precautionary quarantine, or isolation order, with immediate paid or unpaid time off specific to the current crisis. Initially, Governor Hochul proposed that it end a year earlier, but the extension provides a transition period for employers and employees to adjust to post-pandemic norms.

    Looking Ahead: A Progressive Future For Work And Family

    New York’s paid prenatal leave law is not just a legislative win; it’s a societal advancement. It reflects a growing understanding that the health of future generations starts with the care we provide today. Employers and employees are stepping into a future where work-life balance is not just an ideal but a practical reality that supports family planning and prenatal health.

    On top of all the other hats you wear as a small business owner, it’s important to stay on top of ever-changing laws and regulations. Fortunately, GMS, a certified professional employer organization (CPEO), is here to help. GMS’ HR experts ensure that small business owners not only comply with the new paid prenatal leave mandate but also thrive under it. By managing human resources, employee benefits, regulatory compliance, and payroll, GMS provides the expertise and peace of mind that allows business owners to focus on their core operations. We offer a buffer against potential administrative pitfalls and inform businesses of evolving legislation. In essence, a partnership with GMS equips small businesses with the tools and support necessary to foster a supportive work environment that values the health of employees and their families, all while maintaining the business’s bottom line. With the assistance of GMS, small businesses in New York can seamlessly integrate this new law into their policies. Interested in learning more? Contact us today to learn more.

  • As a business owner, you have to make countless decisions about the types of benefits your business offers. From health insurance plans to PTO, your benefits package impacts your employees and your bottom line. Deciding on the type of benefits you want to offer your employees, like maternity and paternity leave, can be a tricky situation.

    Two new parents with their baby while on maternity and paternity leave from their employers. 

    Is My Business Required to Offer Maternity and Paternity Leave?

    The answer to that question depends on the size of your company and its location. Maternity and paternity leave is regulated by U.S. labor law, which includes the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). This law applies to any employee who has worked for your company for at least 12 months and has logged at least 1,250 hours in that span. Any employee who meets FMLA criteria is then able to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period for any of the following reasons.

    • The birth of a child and time to bond with that newborn child within one year of birth
    • The placement of a child for adoption or foster care and to bond with the newly placed child within one year of placement
    • A serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of his or her job
    • To care for the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent who has a serious health condition

    However, FMLA doesn’t affect every business. According to the Department of Labor, FMLA applies to “all public agencies, all public and private elementary and secondary schools, and companies with 50 or more employees” on a federal level. 

    There are some states with different rules in regards to which businesses are impacted by FMLA. For example, New Jersey updated its Family Leave Act to drop its threshold to 30 employees. In addition, New Jersey offers paid family leave. These individual state laws can differ dramatically from the federal norm, so you’ll want to check your local laws to see where your company stands in terms of your parental leave obligations. If your business does not meet the employee threshold for FMLA in your state, you are not required to provide paid or unpaid leave for maternity and paternity leave.

    Should I Offer Maternity and Paternity Leave Benefits Anyway?

    Even if FMLA doesn’t apply to your business, you may want to consider some form of maternity and paternity leave for your employees. There are advantages and disadvantages associated with your various parental leave options, so it’s important to identify some factors that may impact your decision.

    The costs of offering leave

    Your parental leave policy can have different financial impacts. Not offering a leave policy is the lowest cost option, at least in terms of how it’ll impact your day-to-day operations. Conversely, paid leave means that you’re still on the hook for paying your employees while they’re out of the office. In addition, the following factors can affect your bottom line whether you offer paid or unpaid leave:

    • The impact of lost productivity while your employee is on leave
    • The cost of a temp worker to pick up the extra work
    • The cost of covering benefits while an employee is gone

    All of these factors can add up, which can make the decision to offer some form of paid or unpaid parental leave a pricy policy. However, it’s important to also consider the financial impacts of not having a formal maternity or paternity policy.

    No maternal or paternal leave policy can be a big reason as to why an employee leaves your company – or why a potential job candidate accepts a job somewhere else. If a talented employee plans on having a child at some point, he or she may look for other opportunities to cut down on the amount of stress after childbirth and afford them more time to bond with that child. In fact, a study by the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers found that women are “93 percent more likely to be working nine to 12 months after giving birth than those who didn’t take leave.”

    Not only will that departure affect your business’ productivity, replacing that employee can cost as much as half of his or her salary. If you’re in a position where you want to avoid turnover, some form of parental leave policy may be the more cost-effective solution in the long run.

    Employees want paid leave

    Just how attractive is an opportunity for paid leave to a typical employee? BenefitsNews shared the results of a survey that asked workers about the most desirable benefits outside of health insurance and retirement plans. Paid family leave eked out flexible/remote work options as the most coveted option, which can make it a very desirable option to help you attract and retain talented employees.

    The growing desire for parental leave benefits hasn’t gone unnoticed. According to SHRM, more business have offered paid parental leave in recent years. The number of business offering paid maternity leave has nearly tripled between 2014 and 2018, rising from 12 percent to 35 percent. Paid paternity leave wasn’t far behind, increasing from 12 to 29 percent in that time.

    What are Some Parental Leave Options for a Small Business?

    Now that you’ve weighed a few factors that may impact your decision on whether you should or shouldn’t offer maternity and paternity leave. There are a few different options you can take based on the needs of your company.

    • No parental leave
    • Unpaid parental leave
    • Paid parental leave
    • A combination of paid and unpaid parental leave

    So which is the best choice? Ultimately, the decision lies with what’s right for you and your company. You’ll need to balance the financial implications along with how your policy can impact your employees, which requires an internal perspective from someone who knows and understands the company. 

    You’re the best person to judge which type of maternity and paternity leave policy works for your company, but you don’t have to make this call alone. At Group Management Services, we can help you determine which route may be best for your particular situation and put together a company policy to keep your employees informed (and protect you from potential claims). Contact GMS today to talk to one of our experts about how we can help you strengthen your business through employee benefits administration and other key HR functions.

  • Over time, it’s becoming more apparent that people’s personal and professional lives will occasionally overlap. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 63 percent of families with children under the age of 18 had both parents employed. Add in millions of single parents trying to balance home and work responsibilities and you have a lot of employees who seriously value a family-friendly workplace. 

    Managing work and family obligations can take a serious toll on people, which can have a direct impact on your business. Not only can this balance impact the quality of their work, but it can also lead frustrated mothers and fathers to look for more family-friendly workplaces. Fortunately, family-friendly policies are beneficial to employers as well as employees. According to the University of Kansas, a family-friendly workplace can help you:

    • Make employees more productive
    • Create a less stressful work environment
    • Attract more top talent
    • Retain quality employees

    So what can you do to make your business more family-friendly? Here are four policies that can help your business appeal to existing and potential family-oriented employees.

    An employee working at home with her daughter thanks to a family-friendly workplace policy.

    Flexible Schedules

    A little flexibility can go a long way. Back in 2017, the Harvard Business Review asked 2,000 U.S. workers which benefits they’d consider when deciding between a higher-paying job and a lower-paying job with better perks. According to that survey, a whopping 88 percent of people said they’d consider a lower-paying job that offered more flexible hours, with roughly 40 percent of them giving the offer heavy consideration.

    While the Department of Labor defines a traditional schedule as a 9-to-5, 40-hour workweek, family responsibilities can wreak havoc on such a schedule. Whether employees need to drop off or pick up kids at school, stay home to watch over the little ones, or adjust their hours for any other reason, a flexible schedule can help them maintain a regular workload (and their sanity). 

    Another option is to offer employees the ability to opt for condensed workweeks. Instead of five eight-hour days, your workers can choose to work four 10-hour days and take off Friday, do four nine-hour days and work a half-day Friday, or some other weekly schedule. Regardless of which option(s) work best for your employees, having the flexibility to come in late or leave early can help relieve stress, reduce absenteeism, and increase productivity for workers who now have less to worry about while they’re at work. 

    Another big advantage is that flexible hours are a free benefit you can offer. It doesn’t cost extra money for you to provide employees some wiggle room and you can offer ground rules as to what is and isn’t allowed, such as maintaining core hours where employees must be present. In return, you’ll have a happier workforce that recognizes that you know that there’s life outside of work.

    Work From Home

    Similar to flex time, the ability to work from home gives employees a chance to be home when they need to for their families. In fact, that same HBR survey found that 80 percent of people would consider taking less money in exchange for work-from-home options.

    This interest in telecommuting is embraced by more than just employees. The number of people who telecommute has more than doubled over the past decade, with millions of people spending at least half their schedule working outside the office. Over time, business owners have recognized the value of allowing employees to work off site if possible. 

    Not only does telecommuting help out any employees who need to stay home with young or sick kids, it can even boost productivity. According to Global Workplace Analytics, two-thirds of businesses reported increased productivity among telecommuting employees. Whether it’s because those workers had more control over their personal and professional lives or some other reason, allowing employees to work from home can make your business a more family-friendly place for people who need to be home during business hours.

    Daycare Assistance

    Childcare is a major commitment, both in terms of time and money. Whether you opt to provide work flexibility or not, daycare assistance is another way to develop a family-friendly workplace.

    Between the daycare costs and conflicting schedules, childcare issues can have a direct impact on whether an employee decides to join or leave your company. According to Care.com’s Cost of Care report, 69 percent of parents have said that childcare has influenced their career decisions. That’s a lot of talent hanging in the balance depending on your benefits plan. To help out these employees, consider offering one or a combination of the following perks:

    • On-site daycare services
    • Child care subsidies
    • Flexible spending accounts for dependent care

    Parental Leave

    Welcoming a new child into the family is an exciting time for any parent, but it can also be incredibly stressful. A parental leave policy can help you take some of the stress out of the situation. As an employer, you have a few options if you decide to offer parental leave:

    • Unpaid parental leave
    • Paid parental leave
    • A combination of paid and unpaid parental leave

    As expected, paid leave is the most attractive option for employees, but it means you’re still on the hook for paying the new parent while he or she is out. On the flip side, not having a parental leave plan – or one that doesn’t offer any form of paid leave – makes it much more likely that prospective parents will look for better benefits elsewhere. Regardless of which route you chose, adding a parental leave policy to your company’s benefits plan will help show your workers that you care about them and their families outside of work, which can go a long way toward creating a family-friendly culture.

    Make Your Company a Destination for Good Employees

    The average employee spends more time at work than home, but that doesn’t mean your company can’t make it a bit easier to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Establishing family-friendly workplace policies can help you attract and retain top talent so that you have the right people in place at your business.

    Of course, your employees aren’t the only people who deserve a little help maintaining a good work-life balance. In addition to employee benefits administration, there are several key business functions that can eat up your schedule. Fortunately, a PEO can provide the comprehensive HR administrative service you need to manage your business’ HR needs so that you can focus on your business – and the occasional day off – instead of handling payroll or some other time-consuming task.

    Ready to focus on growing your work family? Contact us today to talk to one of our experts about how we can take on the burden of HR administration for you.