The birth of a child is an exciting time for a parent, but in America, it has historically been a difficult occasion to reconcile with working life. Taking time off generally comes with either a big pay loss, use of sick or vacation leave, or both.
Recently, Missouri has begun to change that, at least for state employees. Paid parental leave, one of Gov. Eric Greitens' signature accomplishments during his time in office, has continued its expansion throughout the state's executive branch.
The order has taken a few months to be fully implemented in some departments due to the multiple systems of management that exist throughout the executive branch.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is the latest to join other executive departments in enacting the governor's executive order granting up to six weeks of paid parental leave.
"We looked at the governor's wish to have paid parental leave for all state employees, and we first had to do some number-crunching and see what that would mean for our employees," DESE spokeswoman Sarah Potter said. "Once we took a look at it and saw that there is a cost to it but we could afford it, we wanted to do it."
The order, presented by the governor March 13, gives six weeks of paid parental leave to "primary caregivers" and three weeks for "secondary caregivers." The original order did not define these categories; Potter said executive departments have been defining those terms individually.
DESE's definition is based on the word of the employees, stating a "primary caregiver" attests to having "primary responsibility" over the child and a "secondary caregiver" attests to having "secondary responsibility" over the child.
DESE's policy, approved May 16, is retroactive to the date of the executive order's signing. This means any employee who gave birth or adopted a child after March 13 would be eligible for leave, as long as the leave is taken within 12 weeks of the child's arrival. The policy does not extend to an employee who takes in foster children.
"We were just trying to follow the intent of the governor's executive order," Potter said.
DESE worked with the state Office of Administration to discern the cost to the agency. It was determined the policy would cost DESE $53,507 a year.
Executive departments are not all affected by executive orders in the same way. Some, like the Department of Higher Education, put their internal policies under the control of a commissioner, while others, like DESE, have internal policy approved by a board or commission.
Other departments, such as Natural Resources and Social Services, have no time in between the signing of an executive order and its enactment in the department.
The Department of Conservation, run by the Conservation Commission, has yet to implement the policy.
The proposal, initially expected to cost around $1.1 million out of departments' existing budgets, will not affect any employees outside of the executive branch, though Greitens encouraged lawmakers to enact similar legislation. The executive branch consists of the governor's office, all executive departments, and statewide elected officials such as the secretary of state and the state auditor.
"State departments will be working in the coming days to determine how to best implement this executive order for their employees," Ryan Burns, spokesperson for the Office of Administration, said.
A push by lawmakers to pass a bill extending the order to all government employees failed to cross the finish line during the end of this year's tumultuous legislative session.
State Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, attempted to pass similar legislation through the General Assembly. It was slightly more restrictive than the proposal from the governor, allowing only up to 10 days of paid leave.
Barnes' bill, like the governor's order, would not have required new parents to use all accrued sick leave and vacation time before they could tap the days for parental leave.
Barnes said he does not plan to file the bill again next year, as he was happy with the governor's order.
The order was praised by both Republican and Democratic legislators. The announcement of the policy came after State Auditor Nicole Galloway released a statement criticizing the governor's office for issuing an executive order stalling all rule changes. Galloway is Missouri's only statewide Democratic official.
The order delayed an upcoming change that would have allowed parents to use sick leave to take time off after the birth or adoption of a child.
Shortly after, Greitens released a video with his wife, Sheena, to announce the policy, adding the ability for eligible workers to receive current levels of payment while they took leave. Beforehand, both parents could take a combined 12 weeks off, but the leave was unpaid.
"When Jacob came, and when his older brother Joshua came, we really enjoyed the chance to spend some really good time with them," Greitens said in the video, citing his personal experiences as a reason for the order.
Paid parental leave is still fairly rare across the nation.
Only four states - Washington, New York, California and Rhode Island - and Washington, D.C., currently have laws for statewide paid family leave; even then, two of the states have not yet implemented the policy. New York's law will go into effect Jan. 1, 2018, and Washington has been trying to find funding for the law since passing it in 2007.
Internationally, the United States is one of few countries that does not protect paid parental leave in any form for private workers. Other outliers include New Guinea and Suriname. Many countries offer leave for mothers without extending it to the father.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, only 13 percent of U.S. private industry workers had paid parental leave in March 2016.
Potter said she hopes the addition of parental leave would help attract new employees to DESE as a boost to morale in the agency.
"It's good for our employees, and we hope it's a good recruitment tool in the future," she said.
PAID PARENTAL LEAVE STATUS AMONG EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS
Missouri's 13 executive departments are in various stages of implementing Gov. Eric Greitens' executive order granting employees up to six weeks of paid parental leave. While some agencies enacted the policy immediately upon the governor's March 13 executive order, others required their own policy to gain approval from a board or commission, and one department has yet to begin the process.
Effective March 13 upon executive order
- Office of Administration
- Department of Agriculture
- Department of Corrections
- Department of Health and Senior Services
- Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration (formal policy being reviewed)
- Department of Labor and Industrial Relations
- Department of Natural Resources
- Department of Public Safety (formal policy being reviewed)
- Department of Revenue
- Department of Social Services
Implemented after executive order
- Department of Economic Development (adopted March 30, retroactive to March 13)
- Department of Elementary Education (adopted May 16, retroactive to March 13)
- Department of Higher Education (adopted in April, retroactive to March 13)
- Department of Mental Health
- Department of Transportation (adopted shortly after executive order, retroactive to March 13)
Not implemented
- Department of Conservation