Vermont to begin offering voluntary paid leave program

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The state of Vermont goes to start providing paid household and medical depart to its 8,000 workers subsequent summer season as a part of a voluntary program that in following years can be expanded to personal companies and people, Gov. Phil Scott mentioned Tuesday.

Scott, a Republican who outlined this system at a Statehouse information convention in Montpelier, mentioned it might present a minimum of 60% of the worker’s common weekly wage for a mixed six weeks of paid depart in a 12-month interval. The profit can be utilized for a variety of life occasions, together with the the delivery of a kid or caring for a sick member of the family.

Through the years Scott and the Democratic-led Legislature have promoted completely different variations of paid household depart applications, however they’ve differed on methods to accomplish the objective.

“Paid household and medical depart is an space of settlement I’ve had with Legislature,” Scott mentioned. “Nonetheless, our variations up to now have been extra about methods to pay for it.”

Previously, lawmakers have favored a compulsory program. The governor’s program can be voluntary for the state’s employers.

Home speaker Jill Krowinski, a Democrat, mentioned the pandemic highlighted the necessity for such applications as households struggled to stability careers and caring for family members.

“I sit up for reviewing the main points of the governor’s program, however at first look, it doesn’t meet the wants of Vermonters,” she mentioned in an announcement.

Virtually 4 years in the past Scott and his New Hampshire counterpart Chris Sununu introduced a plan to have the 2 states work collectively on a voluntary program. Nonetheless, the two-state program by no means went ahead.

Now New Hampshire plans to launch a voluntary paid household and medical depart program early subsequent 12 months that can cowl about 10,000 state staff and personal companies and people who choose in. This system will cowl as much as 60% of wages for as much as six weeks. Collaborating companies will get tax credit to offset half the price.

This system was created as a part of final 12 months’s state finances after Republican Gov. Sununu vetoed Democratic plans in 2019 and 2020 that might have required employers to offer paid depart.

Initially, the Vermont program can be for the state’s estimated 8,000 workers. It is going to be administered by The Hartford insurance coverage firm. The state administration plans to ask the Legislature to approve $2 million for this system in subsequent 12 months’s finances.

On July 1, 2024, the voluntary program would broaden to incorporate different personal and non-state public employers and with a number of workers. A 12 months later this system can be expanded to eligible particular person workers, together with self-employed Vermonters.

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AP Reporter Holly Ramer in Harmony, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.