California offers all workers up to six weeks of paid time off to care for a new baby or a sick family member. But it's tough for minimum-wage earners to take advantage of it.
That's because the family-leave program pays only 55 percent of a worker's salary.
A revised bill in the state assembly would make the family leave program more lucrative.
The measure, by Assembly Member Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles), would boost the rate to 70 percent of a minimum-wage worker's salary, and 60 percent for people with higher earnings.
Gomez said his bill would make a big difference for low-wage workers.
“A minimum-wage worker who takes the six weeks off, they will get an additional almost $400. So, this is real money in real people’s pocket," Gomez said.
California is one of only four states that have paid family leave. Gomez said he's surprised that more states haven't followed suit.
“It’s a social safety-net that’s worked," he said. "It’s worker paid for; they put money into it. It actually hasn’t cost a job. And I think that if people want to offer a benefit like this, I think that they can pass it.”
Gomez's bill cleared the legislature last year, but lawmakers pulled it at the last minute. He thinks this year's slightly revised version should get the governor's signature.
