The National Association of Social Workers is the professional organization for social workers across the country. The New York State and New York City chapter (NASW-NYS/NYC) is responsible for advocating for the nearly 62,000 licensed social workers in the state as well as their clients. NASW-NYS/NYC strongly supports A84/S172 which will modernize New York’s paid medical leave system ensuring that all New Yorkers have access to a decent paid leave benefit when they need it. The paid medical leave currently offered in New York has a cap so low that it benefits almost no one, leaving New York workers one cancer diagnosis, car crash, or difficult pregnancy away from losing their job, health insurance, and financial security. That is because New York’s paid medical leave benefit (“temporary disability insurance” or “TDI”) provides workers who need time off to care for their own health a mere $170 per week—and no job protection nor guarantee of health insurance. New York’s TDI benefit is wildly inequitable compared both to its peer states (nearly all of which allow workers over $1,000 per week in benefits) and its own paid family leave benefit, which New Yorkers use to care for seriously ill loved ones and to bond with a new child (and through which workers can receive as much as $1,177.32 per week in benefits). In New York, if your father breaks his leg, you can care for him and receive up to $1,177.32 per week and full job protection; if you break your leg and need to be out of work, you will receive only $170 per week and no job protection.
A84/S172 contains the reforms needed to make these programs work for all New Yorkers. To give New Yorkers the paid medical leave they need, the program must include all the reforms included in A84/S172:
● Remove the $170/week cap on benefits for one’s serious health condition and increase that cap to 67% of the State’s average weekly wage by 2029;
● Provide intermittent leave;
● Protect workers’ jobs and health insurance during medical leave;
These reforms are affordable. Paid family leave is entirely employee-funded, and temporary disability insurance is a shared employer-employee cost; the program's updates can be funded with only a small adjustment to current costs to employers and employees. A84/S172
would transform New York’s paid medical leave program into one on par with modern paid family and medical leave programs across the country. And it would make a profound difference in the lives of New Yorkers, especially those already living paycheck to paycheck. We urge the legislature to pass A84/S172.
