20 stories for 20 years: Supporting entrepreneurship through paid family and medical leave

Small business owners tell us regularly that they want to provide high quality benefits for their employees. Not only because it’s the right thing to do but also because it’s essential to helping small firms compete with big businesses for top talent. The problem is that small businesses often struggle to provide key benefits like paid family and medical leave (PFML), which would help them recruit and retain their workers. Paid leave is important because it allows both small business owners and their employees to take time away from work for their own serious illness, to care for a seriously ill family member or to take parental leave to care for a newborn child, all while providing incentives for small business employees to remain at their jobs instead of leaving for bigger corporations. Given that so many of us experience these situations at some point in our lives, it’s no surprise that Small Business Majority’s research revealed 79% of small business owners support the creation of a national PFML program that would guarantee employees' wage replacement for up to 12 weeks. And small business owners are willing to pay their fair share for this benefit, saying they support a program funded by 0.5% employer and employee contributions each.

In the absence of a federal program, it’s currently up to the states to create their own. One example of Small Business Majority’s work at the state level was our involvement in the creation and implementation of Colorado’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program. Over the course of several years, we urged the Colorado legislature to create a state-administrated paid family and medical leave program. We made our argument through testimony from numerous small business owners, as well as our research at the time, which found that 64% of Colorado small business owners supported establishing a publicly administered PFML insurance program with insurance premiums shared by both the employee and employer. Entrepreneurs like Emilie Aries, owner of Bossed Up, also uplifted their support through Op-Eds and letters to the editor.

The Colorado legislature ultimately failed to pass legislation that would establish a paid leave program, creating a pathway to bring the question to the ballot. Fortunately, Colorado voters widely approved it via ballot measure in 2020. During the implementation phase, Small Business Majority submitted comments and made recommendations to help make FAMLI better serve the small business community. FAMLI’s benefits became available January 1, 2024, and it immediately began helping small business owners like Emilie. In fact, Emilie had her second child after FAMLI benefits went into effect, and the fund allowed her husband to stay home every Thursday to care for their 6-month-old daughter. This lets her family save money on childcare, making “having a second child possible financially,” Emilie said. 

FAMLI has also helped Emilie as an employer; one of her employees will utilize parental leave. The state will cover the employee’s salary payments during their leave, freeing up money so Emilie can hire temporary help.

In addition to Colorado, Small Business Majority has been very active over the years in support of expanding California’s paid family and medical leave program. This work has included fighting for greater accessibility for low-wage workers and to include a broader definition of family. We’ve also spread the word about the program so that more small businesses and their employees take advantage of this valuable benefit.

Today, Small Business Majority continues to advocate for the creation of state-run PFML programs in places like New Mexico and Pennsylvania, as well as working toward paid medical leave improvements in New York, while also supporting the creation of a national program so that more entrepreneurs and their employees can access this crucial benefit, narrowing the gap between smaller businesses and the largest corporate powers.