By Peter Chen and Yarrow Willman-Cole
Paid leave for dads is not a perk, it’s a critically important policy proven to have incredibly positive effects— improving outcomes for children, ensuring the economic stability of families and increasing gender equity at home and at the workplace.
New Jersey’s paid family insurance program should be one of the nation’s best to help dads and all workers do just that, providing 12 weeks of paid leave since its expansion in 2020. But many New Jerseyans don’t have this benefit readily available to them. They pay into the program with every paycheck but can’t rely on job protection to keep their jobs when they return.
Workers at employers of fewer than 30 employees, as well as workers with fewer than 1,000 hours of work in the past year or less than a year at their job, do not qualify for job protection.
Recent studies from the Center for Women and Work and New Jersey Policy Perspective show that between 20 and 30 percent of New Jersey workers do not qualify for job protection because of their employer’s size, with another 5 percent disqualified for not working enough hours in the past year. That means roughly 1 in 3 New Jersey workers can face firing for taking basic paid family leave.
This leads to dads and others who qualify for the benefit through minimum earnings requirements choosing not to take it. As the state’s labor commissioner said in the wake of low participation in the paid leave program, workers may be missing the opportunity to utilize these vital programs.
Fear of job loss or retaliation is a major reason for dads opting not to take leave, along with low benefits and affordability. What workers need from paid family leave is stability in wages and employment during and after leave. After all, what good is paid family leave if your job is not there for you when you go back?
Maintenance tech and Galloway resident Michael Shoemaker informed his employer he wanted to take his 12 weeks of bonding leave after the birth of his son. He was fired the day his wife was induced. Instead of being able to fully enjoy his time bonding with his newborn son, he was also anxiously looking for a new job and worried about the financial future of his family.
“It put a tremendous strain on my new family,” Shoemaker said. “But it is also so important for me to be able to help my wife recover and breastfeed, and to be able to build a strong bond with my son and be there for his first new moments in life and experience things as simple as seeing him opening his eyes with awareness for the first time.”
“Those are times you never get back. It’s really problematic when you think you can take paid leave but then find out you really cannot without risking your job. No dad should have to face the choice of being fired or bonding with their new baby.”
Despite all the research that shows how paid leave benefits employers, business lobbyists will likely say they need flexibility and reasonable regulation. But let’s be clear, the flexibility they are asking for is the ability to fire a new parent for taking time with their baby.
No dad should be fired, or worry about being fired, simply for taking the paid leave they are legally entitled to. All workers, not just those who have won the employer lottery, deserve to take time off during critical moments in life.
Paid time off to bond with and care for our families and loved ones builds stronger families, stronger communities, and a stronger economy. Job-protected paid leave strengthens equity in access to bonding leave for dads.
More dads taking leave can change cultural stereotypes around caregiving and family roles and break down stigmas associated with men taking time off work. As a state, we should be applauding and protecting those who take time to bond with their children and not allow their jobs to be on the chopping block.
Our organizations and other members of the NJ Time to Care Coalition call on the New Jersey Legislature and Gov. Murphy to honor all dads this Father’s Day. Let’s put an end to this obstructive loophole and extend job protection for paid family leave for all workers. No one should have to forsake the benefits they have paid for because they could lose their job.
Peter Chen represents New Jersey Policy Perspective a nonpartisan think tank that drives policy change to advance economic, social, and racial justice through evidence-based, independent research, analysis, and strategic communications.
Yarrow Willman-Cole represents New Jersey Citizen Action a statewide coalition and grassroots membership organization that fights for social, racial, and economic justice for all.
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