In the United States, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), enacted in 1993, entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take up to 12 weeks in a 12-month period of unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons with continuation of group health insurance coverage. TheFMLA only covers approximately 60% of the workforce due to exemptions for employers with fewer than 50 employees. Leave under FMLA is typically used after the birth of a child or for parents that have newly adopted or received a child in their home for foster care placement. However, FMLA also entitles eligible employees that are suffering from a serious health condition that makes an employee unable to perform the essential functions of his job to take leave and entitles eligible employees to take leave in order to care for a spouse, child or parent with a serious health condition. In other words, it is an important federal protection that provides employees with some peace of mind that their job will remain available if leave must be taken.

There is no federal law that requires private-sector employers to provide paid leave of any kind. For years, paid family leave has been the elusive policy in the United States. In fact, according to data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United States is the only country among 41 developed nations that does not mandate any paid leave for new parents.

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