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Paid leave law provides hope for workers caring for elderly kin

By PAUL CHAVEZ
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) California's new paid leave program has given fresh hope to the growing number of people who have the responsibility of caring for elderly family members.

Carol Thomson, 36, of Novato, said the program will be welcomed by her and her husband, who have been providing in-home care for her 75-year-old mother for more than two years.

Thomson, a human resources manager with Family Caregiver Alliance, said her mother suffers from a variety of ailments, including a heart condition, and has moderate dementia that could be linked to Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease.

Thomson said her mother has broken her hip twice and the most recent fracture this summer forced her husband, a technical support worker, to miss more than three weeks of work.

``We should be like the poster people for this bill,'' Thomson said. ``There are thousands of others out there who are in same boat who can also benefit.''

The paid leave bill, signed Monday by Gov. Gray Davis, will allow workers to take up to six weeks of paid leave starting July 1, 2004, to care for a new child or seriously ill family member. It is the first statewide paid family leave program to be enacted in the nation.

The program expands the state's existing disability insurance program and is funded by employee payroll deductions that take effect Jan. 1, 2004. Workers will be eligible to receive 55 percent of their wages during their absence, up to a maximum of $728 a week in the program's first year.

Advocates for the elderly said the program will provide support for members of the so-called ``Sandwich Generation,'' who find themselves meeting the needs of their parents and children.

``We believe that this is an important step forward for the country and its workers, many of whom have to choose between pay and taking care of their loved ones,'' said Bill Powers, legislative director for the Congress of California Seniors in Sacramento. ``Clearly their parents and their children are the people we are talking about. It's the sandwich generation that is faced with this problem.''

The program will be a boon for those workers who take care of elderly family members who suffer from Alzheimer's disease, said Peter Braun, executive director of the Alzheimer's Association in Los Angeles.

A June nationwide study released by the Alzheimer's Association estimated that 64 percent of those providing care to people with Alzheimer's disease are in the work force.

``Families who care for their loved ones at home are coping with enormous emotional responsibility and the additional financial responsibility of providing in-home aid,'' Braun said. ``The paid family leave act might indeed provide for sustainability of the employee in the workplace.''

The paid leave program has drawn criticism from small business advocacy groups, which believe it will prove to be too costly for employers.

One concern is that small businesses will not be able to replace key workers when they go on paid leave, said Betty Toccoli, president of the California Small Business Association.

``We're certainly not antifamily, but the reality is there's no way to fill that person's position without putting the business at-risk,'' Toccoli said.

Thomson, who is trying to have a baby with her husband, said the bill will be ``perfect for us,'' whether it helps them care for a child or her mother.

``If people really are in need,'' she said. ``I think it's the only humane way to go.''

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