Paid leave bill clears Delaware Senate in party-line vote | Health/Fitness

DOVER, Del. (AP) — The Democrat-led state Senate voted alongside celebration strains Tuesday to approve laws forcing private-sector companies in Delaware to offer 12 weeks of paid household and medical depart.

The invoice requires companies using 25 or extra employees to offer as much as 12 weeks of paid parental depart per 12 months, and a mixed whole of as much as six weeks of paid household caregiving depart, medical depart or navy depart each two years. The mixed whole of paid depart in any given 12 months couldn’t exceed 12 weeks.

Companies with 10 to 24 employees could be required to offer solely paid parental depart, whereas these with fewer than 10 workers could be exempt from the regulation.

Companies that already supply comparable advantages would have the ability to choose out of the state-run insurance coverage program.

This system could be funded by a payroll tax cut up evenly between employers and workers, beginning on Jan. 1, 2025. The mixed tax could be 0.8% for 2025 and 2026. The state Division of Labor would set up the tax fee for succeeding years primarily based on “sound actuarial rules,” however profit funds could be minimize to make sure the speed doesn’t exceed 1%.

Profit funds would begin no later than Jan. 1, 2026.

The weekly profit could be 80% of a lined employee’s common weekly wage through the previous 12 months, with a minimal advantage of $100 week. Staff making lower than $100 per week would obtain a profit equal to their full wage.

To be eligible for paid depart, an individual should have been employed by the enterprise for no less than 12 months and should have labored no less than 1,250 hours through the earlier 12 months, which quantities to a median of 26 hours per week.

The laws handed Tuesday is the third iteration of a invoice. It was initially launched in Might of final 12 months however has been modified to deal with the considerations of the enterprise neighborhood and to evolve extra broadly with the federal Household and Medical Depart Act. The adjustments embrace exempting smaller employers in entire or partially, strengthening eligibility necessities for workers, decreasing the utmost quantity of annual paid depart, and delaying implementation of this system.

The laws, which is supported by Democratic Gov. John Carney and is just like applications already handed in 9 different states and the District of Columbia, now goes to the Home.