By Logan B. Anderson

DOVER — State-supported family medical leave is now the law of the land in the First State.

Tuesday afternoon on the east steps of Legislative Hall, Gov. John Carney signed Senate Substitute 2 for Senate Bill 1 — the Healthy Delaware Families Act — into Delaware Code. The new law will provide eligible full-time workers in the First State with up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave a year, and up to six weeks of paid family caregiving leave, paid medical leave or paid military leave every two years once fully implemented.

Statewide paid family and medical leave will go into effect for workers in Delaware on Jan. 1, 2025.

“This legislation will build on the work we’ve done for state employees and extend paid leave into the private sector. It’s the right thing to do and it will make Delaware more attractive for younger workers,” said Gov. Carney before the bill signing on Tuesday.

The Healthy Delaware Families Act had two primary sponsors, Sen. Sarah McBride, D-Wilmington, and Rep. Debra Heffernan, D-Bellefonte. The bill built on Rep. Heffernan’s earlier work to extend family leave to state workers.

Sen. McBride, a freshman senator, said she started work on this legislation as soon as she got to Dover for the first time. She worked with her colleagues in both legislative chambers, along with business leaders up and down the state. She said she then molded the legislation to fit the needs of as many stakeholders as possible and, in the end, filed Senate Substitute 2 for Senate Bill 1.

Delaware’s law, in a lot of ways, is aligned with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

“Today is about families and the most Delaware of values that in a state of neighbors, we share a duty to care, to support one another when we need it most and to look out for each other’s family like we do our own,” said Sen. McBride. “My heart is full of gratitude for the many advocates and leaders who supported taking real action for the new moms forced to go back to work days after giving birth, for the parents fundraising online to make up for wages they lost while caring for a sick child, and for the patients who had to forgo treatment to pay their rent or keep food on the table. Through collaboration and compassion, we have shown that small states can do big things for the people we represent.”

Workers forced to take extended time off from work due to a major family or medical event would be able to earn up to 80% of their average weekly wages through the state insurance program created by the bill.

To pay for the initiative, the new law creates a family and medical trust fund in Delaware, modeled after similar programs already passed in nine other states and the District of Columbia. The program would be funded through payroll contributions, totaling less than 1% of an employee’s weekly pay, and split evenly between workers and their employers.

Businesses with fewer than 25 workers would not be required to participate in the medical and family caregiving component of the program, and businesses with fewer than 10 employees would not be required to participate in parental leave, but they may opt in. Businesses with comparable benefits already in place would be able to opt out of the program in whole or in part.

“Today, we’re confirming what many have known for a long time — paid family leave is a right. This isn’t a perk or some nice-to-have benefit. It’s essential to welcome a child, care for a sick or dying loved one, or deal with a serious medical issue. When my first child was born, I had to take short-term disability, then unpaid leave. By the time I had my other two kids, I left my full-time job because I couldn’t afford to take unpaid leave and then pay for daycare. No parent should have to make that decision,” said Rep. Heffernan.

“The Healthy Delaware Families Act says that Delaware workers will no longer have to choose between their children, their loved ones, their health and their job. It will give residents the security to take on these critical life situations and know that they don’t have to sacrifice their careers. Employers know this is a sound and compassionate policy. That’s why so many companies already offer paid family leave.”

Delaware’s largest private employer, ChristianaCare, has been a staunch supporter of the family medical leave act from the beginning.

“We believe that this will be incredibly impactful for every Delawarean across the state. Having a healthy Delaware means a vital economy, healthy families and a healthy supported workforce,” said Bettina Tweardy Riveros, chief health equity officer for ChristianaCare.

The New Castle County-based health system already provides similar benefits for its employees on its own.

“As a leading birthing hospital and one of the first organizations in Delaware to offer paid family leave, we’re thrilled to support this bill. The research is clear — paid leave gives parents time to bond with a new child, increases the duration of breastfeeding post-birth, and frankly, reduces infant hospitalizations,” she said.

The Healthy Delaware Families insurance program will be handled by the Department of Labor. Though it doesn’t go into effect until 2025, the department will soon begin creating the processes and infrastructure to make the program work.