Breaking: Hawaii Passed Mandatory Family Leave Benefits

For the first time, the Hawaiian House legislators passed two bills that mandate the employers to provide paid family benefits to their workers. The business owners and workers are expected to testify their sides regarding these controversial bills this week.

Hawaii Needs Family Leave Benefits

Before the legislators passed the bill, most Hawaiian workers didn’t have the liberty to take paid leaves while retaining their jobs. They don’t spend enough time with their families anymore in exchange for supporting them financially. Even the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 cannot entitle the workers from getting their benefits. In fact, a Hawaiian worker can only file a leave for 12 weeks to take care of family matters. If the company has 100 staff, then an employee can extend his/her absence up to four months.

Most Hawaiian workers don’t enjoy a healthy balance between work and life

However, the company won’t compensate them for the whole duration of their absence! It’s like you don’t have a job for four months! How can a worker survive without getting any income from their leave of absence? The Hawaiian workers had endured this horrible job cycle for years. However, all their suffering seems to end here.

From now on, they don’t need to sacrifice their family’s welfare anymore!  Just this week, the Hawaiian legislature recently passed two controversial bills namely House Bill 2598 and Senate Bill 2990. Both bills aim to entitle all workers for mandatory family leave benefits without sacrificing their precious jobs.

Enforce Family’s Well-being

According to studies conducted by several U.S. states, workers with paid family leave benefits are likely to return highly motivated and with enthusiasm to improve their quality of work. They are also likely stay in their jobs and won’t have to rely on hiring caregivers to assist their infants. A child’s health also improves when parents spend an ample time in bonding without worrying about their financial stability.

Hawaiian workers can now file for paid leaves to tend their ailing family

Kupuna Get Better Health Care

Around 15% of Hawaii’s population is composed of Kupuna or what we call the elders who live in generational households together with their offspring. Since most Hawaiian workers didn’t have paid leaves, they were used to hiring caregivers to take care of their family members.

But thanks to this family paid leave benefit, the workers can now save more money from hiring caregivers. Furthermore, they can concentrate on improving the health of their elders since they don’t have to worry about their work anymore. The said benefit can help the worker cater the growing need in taking care of children and aging parents.

The Business Sector Can Reap Benefits Too

Businesses retain their employees’ loyalty if they compensate them with the privileges they deserve

Most employees may see family leave benefits as an additional cost on their end at first, but it improves their business in the long run. Aside from promoting a healthy balance between life and work, most job workers adhere to a compassionate employer.

Statistics from Californian law indicated that those businesses providing family leave and insurance benefits contributed to higher employee satisfaction rates with low turnovers. Aside from that, their employees had higher work productivity and excellent performance since they felt the need to give back to the company. Business owners on the other hand, don’t have to spend more money in hiring and training new workers.

Affordable Insurance Benefits

Aside from the paid leave benefits, the Hawaiian legislators are pushing to implement a social insurance program for its workers. This will offer wage protection and social care to a worker during emergency cases. They want to encourage workers and their families to start living healthy lives as soon as possible. Through their savings and retirement funds they can support themselves when they’re older. Last but not the least, any minimum-wage worker can avail the said insurance for only $5 per month.