Family leave means an employee taking a certain amount of time off from work to:
- take care of a newly born or newly adopted child (this is sometimes called ‘parental leave’)
- take care of a family member—a spouse, parent, or child—who has a serious health condition.
Medical leave means an employee taking a certain amount of time off to recover from a serious health condition.
A serious health condition means that it requires professional treatment and makes a person unable to leave the hospital or their home for a period.
This is different from ordinary sick leave when a person may take a few days off for something like a cold.
As you may know, many workers—approximately 40%—do not have the legal right to take family or medical leave, meaning that they can be fired if they do so.
Also, many workers, even if they can take leave, are not guaranteed any pay while they’re on leave.
Overall:
- Only 40% of all workers are offered paid medical leave
- Only 20% of all workers are offered paid family leave.