GCoA Fact Sheet

“Providing better supports for family caregivers is essential to the well-being of our health care system, our long-term care system, and our economy.”
Valuing the Invaluable: A New Look at the Economic Value of Family Caregiving: AARP Public Policy Institute 2007

PARENT PROTECTION ACT

Why This Legislation is Important:

As life expectancies increase and shortages in the caring professions make headlines, society looks to the family unit to play a larger role in eldercare. Working caregivers need a way to take care of family responsibilities without risking their jobs. Family and work patterns have changed dramatically in recent decades.

·   Today nearly 4 in 5 families are two-income households where both spouses work for pay.
·   One quarter of Americans report significant elder care responsibility, many of whom are forced to reduce their work hours or take time off to provide care.
·   Nearly 4 in 10 employees report that they have missed work due to eldercare responsibilities.

Flexible family leave policies strengthen families, businesses, schools, and the economy by increasing the ability of employers to recruit and retain the best people, improve productivity and moral, and decrease turnover and absenteeism. Moreover, strong family support helps seniors stay healthy and independent longer.

Georgia law currently permits time off for voting and jury duty, an acknowledgement that fulfilling certain roles serves the larger interest of society. In addition, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides an important safety net for employees who need time off to care for a seriously ill family member. However, the FMLA does not cover time off for routine medical appointments. For example, an employee cannot take his/her parent to a routine doctor’s appointment. As a result, caregivers are dropping loved ones off at the doctor’s office and picking them up hours later to keep from compromising their job security. Hospitals are on the receiving end and are forced to act as adult day care centers while elderly patients are left for hours without a loved one.

The Parent Protection Act will provide a much needed complement to the FMLA. Allowing working caregivers to take up to 24 hours of unpaid leave per year to take themselves, children or a parent to routine preventive medical appointments will keep the family unit healthy, seniors better able to stay in their homes and the business community strengthened.

What other states do:

Dozens of states now support family caregiving with greater access to family leave policies including paid sick days, use of accrued personal time for illness of a family members and wage replacement for family and medical leave. In 2007 at least 20 states introduced legislation that would provide leave to care for elderly relatives, and six states introduced family leave insurance legislation which would provide paid leave.

What This Legislation Would Do:

The Parent Protection Act would give employees the ability to take up to 24 hours of unpaid leave per year for specific purposes including going to their own medical appointments or taking a parent, child or spouse to routine medical appointments.

Coalition of Advocates for Georgia’s Elderly (CO-AGE)

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