Report says Oklahoma slack in parental leave laws

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ After having her first child two weeks ago, Tequia Sier's doctor recommended that she take off at least 12 weeks from work to recuperate. <br/><br/>But, Sier, 24, and her husband

Sunday, July 3rd 2005, 2:04 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ After having her first child two weeks ago, Tequia Sier's doctor recommended that she take off at least 12 weeks from work to recuperate.

But, Sier, 24, and her husband Derrick, 23, can't afford to take three months of unpaid leave, she said.

``It would certainly be nice to take the time, because I am nursing the baby,'' she said. ``But, I'll have to be back at work before I even have my first, six-week checkup.''

Oklahoma doesn't provide any parental leave laws that offer job security and benefits to new mothers and fathers planning to return to work, according to a report released in May by the National Partnership for Women and Families.

``Oklahoma gets an 'F' because they don't go beyond the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993,'' said Taylor Hatcher, a work-family policy analyst for the NPWF. ``They are not providing workers anything beyond the bare minimum.''

The federal FMLA provides 12 weeks of unpaid leave for: the birth and care of a newborn child of the employee; a newly adopted child of the employee; to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child or parent) with a serious health condition; or to take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition.

The law is applicable only to those who have been on a job for at least a year, which excludes about 40 percent of the work force, Hatcher said.

That's why states need policies in addition to FMLA, she said.

``Employees in this country work so incredibly hard,'' Hatcher said. ``They deserve the right to balance work and family. Sometimes that can be difficult because FMLA is unpaid.''

Pat McGuigan, deputy commissioner for the Oklahoma Department of Labor, said although ``the state doesn't provide any protections beyond FMLA, the state does hold employers to their stated wage, hour and benefit policies.''

``Stated policies are not without teeth,'' he said. ``As an employer, you can't just say you are going to provide a benefit and not do it.''

As for getting any additional state laws, McGuigan said the Oklahoma Department of Labor ``supports the existing provisions and that the issue would have to be taken before the Legislature.''

``The expansion of benefits always carries a cost,'' he said. ``Oklahoma employers will be able to provide better benefits as the economy grows. Profitability has to be the first concern of a person in business.''

Oklahoma was one of 19 states to receive a failing grade in the report. Other states included Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho and Texas.

The state of California received an 'A minus', the highest score, because it ``provides working parents up to six weeks of paid leave for a newborn, newly adopted or foster care-placed child,'' according to the report.

In 1999, California adopted a law that covers up to six months off for illness if that much sick leave time has been accrued by the employee, Dean Fryer, spokesman for the California Department of Industrial Relations, said.

The state's lactation accommodation law was established in 2001, which allows new mothers a time for breast feeding along with a private space, he said.

``I think in California there's been an effort to accommodate employees, and it does lend to better work morale and better productivity,'' Fryer said.

Oregon, Hawaii and Washington D.C. have extended their parental leave laws, too, scoring a 'B plus', Hatcher said.

``If there is anything that Oklahoma can learn, it's that states are showing that there is more to offer than FMLA,'' Hatcher said.