Opinion: Require all New York employers to offer paid family leave

Paid family leave is a right that millions of New Yorkers take for granted since the state launched the benefit in 2018, enabling them to take vital paid time off from their jobs to care for sick family members and bond with their new children. But the law carved out upwards of 100,000 teachers at charitable, religious and educational institutions, leading to disastrous consequences for educators, their students and the institutions where they teach.

Albany lawmakers can close this glaring loophole this week, by passing S.9560A/A.9071A, a concise bill introduced by state Sen. Christopher J. Ryan and Assembly Member Claire Valdez. The bill would close the loophole that has excluded certain academic workers from this important benefit for far too long.

As contingent (i.e., adjunct, part-time and full-time non-tenure-track) faculty who teach at universities across the state, we have experienced and seen firsthand the economic and emotional hardships many faculty have had to endure without the right to paid family leave. 

Rather than face dire financial consequences, and even loss of employment, many of our colleagues have been forced to carry on teaching instead of caring for their gravely ill spouses and parents. Others have had to miss out on essential bonding with their new children. Many of us face the twin demands of starting families while also caring for our aging parents.

We also know teachers who have won PFL through their unions, or who work for universities that voluntarily offer PFL. These colleagues are able to carry out their work and care for their families, demonstrating that PFL is good for their schools, good for students, and good for families.

Advancing the bill aligns with New York’s strong interest in supporting families – a meaningful accompaniment to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s initiatives to improve early childcare for working New Yorkers. The research literature shows that PFL dramatically improves infant attachment, child development and overall health for women giving birth, with lower rates of hospitalization for both babies and mothers who took paid leave from work. Many teachers now cut off from PFL are women and caregivers – groups disproportionately affected by unpaid leave and caregiving burdens, and overrepresented among contingent faculty. Research indicates that expanding PFL will help to close the gender pay gap by increasing women’s ability to return to work at the same wage and preserve their earning trajectory. 

Contingent faculty make up the majority of the teaching faculty at universities across New York and yet many of us lack job-protected paid leave that is currently extended to millions of New York state workers. Not having state-mandated paid family leave is nonsensical, unjust and runs counter to the aim of establishing an agenda centered on affordability. It has no basis in public policy.

Ending the carveout costs the state nothing, with only minimal costs to employers as workers typically fund PFL through a small payroll deduction. We have enough to worry about with the Trump administration’s assaults on research funding and academic freedom. 

In the face of the war on higher education, this bill should be a no-brainer.