February 27, 2017
The Feb. 21 editorial “Ms. Bowser’s feckless decision” called the District’s paid-leave program “expensive and ill-designed.” The editorial board assumed the law would be bad for business because the program is funded by employers, not workers. This is far from certain. Similar fears were raised about California’s first-in-the-nation paid-leave program when it was passed 15 years ago, but those fears did not come to fruition. The editorial board suggested that private-sector initiatives could play a large role in solving the problem of paid leave. But such solutions generally apply only to high-wage jobs where competition for labor is stiff. As an attorney who represents pregnant women and caregivers, I know that private-sector solutions often fall far short of the mark. Is the District’s law perfect? Certainly not. Will it be difficult to implement? Probably. But difficult issues such as paid leave will be solved only through bold actions such as the one enacted by the D.C. Council. It will provide District residents with a more stable workforce that will attract and keep the best and the brightest.
Click here to read the full “Letter to the Editor” by Tom Spiggle of the Spiggle Law Firm.
