Most businesses with some sort of paid leave fund it through allowing the employee to use sick days or a partial payment under a short term disability policy.
From a Federal Office of Personnel Management report, 2000:
IV. Parental Leave in Non-Federal Establishments
(snip)
Ultimately, we relied on four surveys of employers and employees in the non-Federal sector conducted within the last 5 years. Survey findings concerning parental leave are summarized below.
Balancing the Needs of Families and Employers
Family and Medical Leave Survey - 2000 Update
U.S. Department of Labor
In 1995, the Commission on Family and Medical Leave conducted a survey of employers and employees to determine the impact of legally required and voluntary family and medical leave policies. In 2000, the Department of Labor (DOL) commissioned updates to the 1995 surveys. The 2000 Surveys document the types of family and medical leave benefits offered and, correspondingly, the benefits that employees are using....
Of the establishments surveyed, 34.4 percent of surveyed employers reported providing full pay to new mothers for maternity-related reasons. The survey did not ask whether the employee received pay for time off through a separate category of parental leave, through the employees own vacation and/or sick leave, or through temporary disability compensation programs. DOL also reported that 24 percent of the establishments surveyed provide full pay to parents on leave for care of a newborn, but again, the type of replacement pay was not characterized.
IPMA/NASPE 2000/2001 Benchmarking Survey -- Total Compensation
International Personnel Management Association and National Association of State Personnel Executives
Two hundred and eleven Federal, State, and local jurisdictions participated in the 2000/2001 survey. These jurisdictions represented more than 3 million employees. The majority of the participants were cities, towns, and States. The respondents indicated that paid parental leave for birth or adoption was offered by 51 percent of the organizations surveyed. However, the survey did not differentiate between maternity and paternity leave or indicate whether the employee received pay for time off through a separate category of parental leave, through the employees own vacation and/or sick leave, or through temporary disability compensation programs.
1998 Business Work-Life Study (BWLS)
Families and Work Institute
The Families and Work Institute undertook one of the first and most comprehensive studies of how U.S. employers are responding to the work/life needs of the Nations workforce. The survey was funded by Allstate Insurance, the Chase Manhattan Bank, the Commonwealth Fund, Freddie Mac Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, and The Travelers Foundation. The survey included a representative sample of 1,057
for-profit employers (84 percent of the sample) and not-for-profit employers
(16 percent of the sample) with 100 or more employees. The survey was designed to complement the Families and Work Institutes 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW), which surveyed a representative sample of employers in the U.S. labor force.
The 1998 survey reported that 91 percent of the establishments granted at least
12 weeks of leave to a new mother, in conformance with the FMLA. Similarly,
90 percent of the establishments provided at least 12 weeks of leave to new fathers, and 90 percent provided leave to both parents for adoption and foster care purposes. Mothers employed by 53 percent of the establishments received some replacement pay during their absence. However, 81 percent of the establishments providing replacement pay reported funding this payment through a general temporary disability benefits program. Only 13 percent of new birth fathers received at least some replacement pay, and only 12.5 percent of adoptive parents of either sex received some replacement pay. The survey did not address whether the replacement pay, other than temporary disability, was from the employees own paid leave account or a separate parental leave benefit.
2000 SHRM Benefit Survey
Society for Human Resource Management
The 2000 Society for Human Resource Management Benefit Survey was distributed to
606 human resources professionals. The respondents were fairly evenly split between companies with fewer than 250 employees and those with more than 250 employees. The survey contained 120 questions on the different kinds of benefits extended to employees, with particular attention to leave benefits. The survey specifically requested information about separate paid parental leave benefits.
The survey results indicate that only a small number of organizations provide paid maternity leave (other than partial pay replacement under temporary disability compensation programs) or paid paternity leave. While 12 percent of the respondents indicated that paid maternity leave is offered to their employees, 85 percent of the respondents reported no such benefit. Paid paternity benefits were minimal. Only
7 percent of the employers surveyed offered paid paternity leave to their employees. In addition, fewer than 1 percent of the respondents reported that their organizations were planning to offer paid maternity or paternity benefits in the future.
While non-Federal establishments are conforming to the requirements of the FMLA and permitting employees to use up to 12 weeks of leave for certain family and medical needs, few establishments provide a separate entitlement to paid parental leave for birth or adoption purposes. Paid time off for maternity purposes is largely funded by temporary disability insurance and the employees own paid leave. It is important to note that under the Department of Labors regulations implementing the FMLA in non-Federal establishments (part 825 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations), any paid time off provided by the employer or through temporary disability insurance or the employees own paid leave is counted as part of the 12 weeks of guaranteed FMLA leave.
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