October 11, 2023

Business Group on Health Policy Position Statements

Business Group on Health’s position statements on health policy issues impacting employer-sponsored health coverage.

Full Series

Issue

In recent years, state and local laws requiring paid sick, family, caregiver, or other forms of leave have proliferated. Currently, 15 states, the District of Columbia, and several municipalities require employers to provide paid sick leave; while 13 states and the District of Columbia require paid family leave. More states and municipalities are likely to adopt similar leave requirements.

Large employers often provide leave benefits that match or exceed those required by law. However, they face unnecessary administrative burdens from state and local leave laws that require compliance with unique accrual, reporting, notice, and recordkeeping rules. State and local requirements also make it difficult for large employers to maintain and administer nationwide, uniform leave benefits.

Position

Large employers want paid leave to be simple, fair and benefit the well-being of employees and their families. Business Group on Health supports policies that align with our Tenets for Equitable and Administrable Paid Leave – specifically, policies that:

• Recognize the value of paid leave for employers in recruiting and retaining talent,
• Improve employee health, morale and productivity; and
• Enable employers to demonstrate their corporate social responsibility.

Federal lawmakers should minimize the administrative and cost burden of leave requirements by:

• Establishing nationwide, uniform rules for providing and administering paid leave;
• Deeming employer leave benefits meeting or exceeding required federal leave amounts to be in compliance with state or local law without additional administrative requirements;
• Consulting with employers, leave tracking systems, and other stakeholders during the development of any new leave proposals;
• Harmonizing any new leave proposals with existing accrual, reporting, recordkeeping, and other administrative requirements; and
• Allowing flexibility to adapt compliance procedures to employers’ existing payroll, HR, recordkeeping, IT, and other systems.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Employers recognize the value of paid leave in recruiting and retaining talent; improving employee health, well-being, and workforce productivity; and demonstrating community commitment.
• The proliferation of diverse, intricate, and administratively burdensome leave requirements is inhibiting innovative leave designs.
• Complicated leave requirements also create difficulties for employees to navigate and use their leave benefits.
• The lack of uniform rules within employer-sponsored leave benefits creates inconsistent approach and design for employers and their workforces, diminishes the employee experience, and requires costly IT and administrative modifications.

More Topics

Policy & Advocacy Leave & Flexible Work Arrangements Leave Policy