Workplace Flexibility & Leave
Comprehensive employer-sponsored benefits packages are key to an employer’s ability to attract and retain top talent. Employers intentionally construct their benefits packages to reflect the needs and demands of their specific workforce. According to the 2024 SHRM Employee Benefits Survey, 81% of employers selected “Leave Benefits” and “Retirement Savings and Planning Benefits” as either “extremely important” or “very important” to their workforces — with these categories second only to “Health Care-Related Benefits” at 88%.
Public policy should offer incentives and flexibility to allow employers to deliver robust leave and retirement benefits to their employees. SHRM advocates for smart, balanced policies that bridge the gaps between current practices and federal, state, and local laws and regulations.
Sustaining the Workforce: SHRM’s Commitment to Building a Resilient Future of Work
SHRM calls on policymakers to address the needs of the modern workplace with smart, balanced approaches to bring workplace flexibility and leave policies in line with the needs of the modern world of work. This is vital to promote employee well-being, foster better work/life integration, and bolster a thriving U.S. workforce and economy.
SHRM research indicates that employers and employees know the organizational value that leave has in helping workers recover and in mitigating fatigue and potential burnout. Similarly, retirement savings and planning benefits remain among the most important benefits employers feel they can provide, with the value generated for their employees evident. However, small and midsize businesses need modernized policies to compete with larger organizations, and larger organizations need flexibility to expand their innovative offerings.
SHRM’s Vision for Legislative and Regulatory Improvements to Modernize a Cornerstone of U.S. Workplace Policy
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which President Bill Clinton signed in 1993 as his first act in office, was a groundbreaking bipartisan achievement that transformed workplace protections. However, significant shifts in both the paid and unpaid leave landscapes — along with changes in federal accommodations, worker classifications, and the overall culture of work — have made the FMLA’s application in the modern world unclear.
As currently constructed, FMLA does not fit into the modern world of work. SHRM research shows that 87% of employers “agree” or “strongly agree” that Congress has an opportunity and responsibility to revise the FMLA to meet the current and future needs of work, workers, and workplaces.
Download SHRM’s resource, “What are HR Professionals Saying About the FMLA?”
Download SHRM’s full research deck, “The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 Reimagined: SHRM’s Vision for Legislative and Regulatory Improvements to Modernize a Cornerstone of U.S. Workplace Policy.”
SHRM research shows that employers want to see changes to the FMLA, believe it is the federal government’s responsibility to lead these efforts, and have clear ideas on which updates should be implemented.
- Update the FMLA to reflect contemporary family structures and workforce dynamics.
- Expand the definition of covered family members.
- Address challenges with intermittent or reduced leave.
- Standardize and align regulations.
- Enhance employer support and resources.
Every worker deserves access to quality care for their loved ones without sacrificing their careers. Small and mid-sized employers need assistance to provide access to these benefits. Congress, it is time to remove barriers to address the needs of the modern worker and workplace.
SHRM
A Measured Approach to Paid Leave
To increase meaningful access to paid family and medical leave, Congress should support legislation that creates a voluntary national paid family and medical leave insurance market to enable cost-pooling and ensure regulatory consistency for participating employers. A balanced approach with bipartisan appeal should offer a path to expand access to paid family and medical leave for workers, provide flexibility in the design of benefits programs, and increase regulatory consistency for multistate employers.
SHRM urges that any national proposal moving forward:
- Expand meaningful access to compensated paid leave for U.S. workers.
- Provide flexibility to organizations in benefits design.
- Increase regulatory consistency for multistate employers.
- Address the patchwork of state and local laws.
- Adopt an actuarially equivalent standard with appropriate safeguards.
- Create a shared market for employers to tap into pooled resources.
- Mitigate the burdens associated with self-funding.
- Reduce administrative costs associated with compliance.
- Accommodate differences in work environments, industries, and organizational sizes.
SHRM Offers Input on Paid Family Leave Public-Private Partnerships Act and Interstate Paid Leave Action Network Act
In Dec. 2024, co-chairs of the bipartisan House Paid Family Leave Working Group (“Working Group”), Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-06) and Stephanie Bice (R-OK-05), released two discussion drafts aimed at expanding paid leave access. In response, SHRM’s Head of Government Affairs, Emily M. Dickens, stated:
“SHRM applauds the hard work of the [Working Group] on the release of the legislative text for the Interstate Paid Leave Action Network Act of 2024, or the ‘I–PLAN Act.’ We commend the Working Group’s commitment to addressing the challenges created by the patchwork of state and local regulations.”
The Working Group also sought public input on the Paid Family Leave Public-Private Partnerships Act and the I-PLAN Act. SHRM welcomed the opportunity to respond and provided recommendations, advocating for:
- A national standard for paid leave.
- Leveraging existing structures while recognizing diverse caregiving needs.
- Strengthening public-private partnerships.
SHRM looks forward to continued engagement and thought leadership on this critical issue.
Building Financial Security: SHRM’s Vision for Accessible Retirement for All
HR professionals are instrumental in supporting employees’ retirement planning and ensuring that their organization’s retirement benefits program aligns with both the employees’ needs and the organization’s objectives.
SHRM promotes policies that enhance retirement security for workers. This includes employee access to retirement plans, simplified retirement plan administration, and measures to increase retirement plan participation.
Public policies around retirement must:
- Structure tax incentives to encourage employers to establish retirement plans and persuade employees to participate in them.
- Reduce cost and complexity to facilitate employers to offer and administer retirement benefits for their employees.
- Reduce burdens that hinder small and midsize businesses from offering plans.
- Encourage innovation in plan design to provide retirement security for historically underserved and uncovered populations, including low-wage workers.
SHRM’s workplace flexibility and leave policy priorities are:
Revise the FMLA to better meet modern workplace needs. SHRM is ready to offer practical, on-the-ground experience to assist in these efforts. SHRM advocates that federal legislation should clarify FMLA rights and responsibilities, better align with other leave and accommodation laws, address the under-inclusion of qualifying events and covered family members, and reduce administrative burdens.
Support legislation for a voluntary national paid family and medical leave insurance market to enable cost-pooling and ensure regulatory consistency. SHRM supports this balanced, bipartisan approach that would expand access to paid leave, offer flexible benefits design, and increase regulatory consistency for multistate employers.
Align retirement benefits with both employee needs and organizational goals. SHRM is dedicated to advancing policies that secure and enhance retirement benefits by increasing meaningful access to retirement plans, simplifying retirement plan administration, and supporting measures to increase retirement plan participation.
Learn More About Workplace Flexibility and Leave
Learn more by contacting SHRM Government Affairs at governmentaffairs@shrm.org.