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NARFE Applauds Introduction of Legislation Providing Paid Parental Leave for Federal Employees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jessica Klement
February 13, 2017 jklement@narfe.org
  703-838-7760

Alexandria, VA – The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) applauded the introduction today of the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act. The bill, introduced in the House by Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-NY, and Barbara Comstock, R-VA, and in the Senate by Sen. Brian Schatz, D-HI, would provide six weeks of paid leave to federal employees for the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child.

NARFE President Richard G. Thissen issued the following statement:

“It has been well-documented that paid parental leave improves recruitment and retention of highly qualified, talented employees. It boosts employee morale, which has been shown to increase productivity, and reflects the value that the citizens of this country place on family and parenting. This legislation also has the added benefit of not increasing the federal budget deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Many private-sector employers recognize the value of the policy. It is past time for the federal government to do so.

“With more than half of U.S. private-sector employers offering paid parental leave, federal agencies can’t compete with the private sector for talented younger workers who, if electing federal employment, would have to use accrued vacation or sick time, which may be only a few days, or forgo pay in order to take time off after the birth of a child. With only 7 percent of professional federal employees currently under age 30 and with more than 30 percent of the federal workforce eligible to retire in the next three years, the government must offer benefits comparable to those offered in the private sector.

“America is the only industrialized nation whose civil service employees do not receive a single day of paid parental leave after the birth or adoption of a child. In fact, we lag behind the developing and undeveloped world, as only Papua New Guinea, Lesotho and Swaziland do not provide paid parental leave for new parents. Frankly, this is embarrassing.

“I thank Rep. Maloney, Rep. Comstock and Sen. Schatz, along with Reps. Beyer, Raskin, and Hoyer and Sens. Gillibrand and Van Hollen, for their leadership on and support of this important issue. NARFE urges Congress to swiftly act on this commonsense piece of legislation.”
 

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The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), one of America’s oldest and largest associations, was founded in 1921 with the mission of protecting the earned rights and benefits of America’s active and retired federal workers. The largest federal employee/retiree organization, NARFE represents the interests of nearly five million current and future federal annuitants, spouses and survivors.