Ryan Cowdin
Tue, 12/21/2021
On November 19, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act (BBBA), a $2 trillion dollar piece of legislation that includes the first federal paid leave program. If passed into law, starting in 2024, the BBBA would provide all U.S. workers with 4 weeks of paid leave for (1) becoming new parents; (2) to treat their own serious health condition; or (3) to care for a loved one with a serious health condition. Eligible workers could receive up to 90 percent of their regular income in benefits, capped at $800 per week.
Apart from 4 weeks of paid benefits, the BBBA builds on the existing unpaid protections of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in two key ways. First, it applies to all workers, including those who are self-employed, working part time, working for small employers, or have recently started working for their employers. Second, although the BBBA takes its definition of “serious health condition” straight from the FMLA, it expands the definition of “family members” to include extended family and “any other individual who is related by blood or affinity and whose association with the individual is equivalent of a family relationship.” Thus, more workers will be eligible for leave under the BBBA than for the FMLA, and will be able to use these benefits to care for others outside of the traditional family unit.
BBBA benefits will be distributed through the Social Security Administration. Importantly, the BBBA complements—but does not displace—existing state, local, and employer-provided paid leave programs to the extent these programs provide better benefits. If a worker is covered by such a program, they will not be eligible for benefits under the BBBA, but the federal government will reimburse states for the amount it would have cost to administer the federal program and reimburse private employers for part of their premiums.
