Why you should look closer at how employment regulations are written

How a law is written tells you just as much as what it says. 

I’ve been reading a lot of state family and medical leave laws recently. Many (but shockingly, not all) states have wording like this example from Michigan:

“Compensation for time off during maternity leave must be consistent with the employer’s policy for other types of leaves of absence.”

You yawn. 'Of course they must. FMLA covers parental leave. Duh. Everybody knows that.' 

Hidden behind the “duh” is a less obvious question: But then why did they have to write it down?

FMLA only guarantees that you’ll have a job to come back to. 

There is NO state, that actually requires an employer to pay someone while they’re on leave. 

PFL insurance? Taxes? Sometimes. But law saying pay goes straight from employer to your bank account once your sick time runs out (if your state mandates sick time at all).

Without a state law saying otherwise, employers can pay you in bananas or goats while you’re on leave. Or not at all.

All this Michigan law says is that if one person is paid 20 bananas and a goat after a debilitating car accident, the company also has to pay a new mom the same number of bananas and goats.

But seriously, though. Why did they have to write this down?

Shouldn't it be common sense?

The fact that it was written into law means that someone did need to be told. 

That there are still people who need a reminder that someone who had a baby (a condition highly correlated to women) needs to be paid as much as her counterparts who... I don’t know... got into a motorcycle accident, or fell off a ladder cleaning the gutters, or got testicular cancer. 

These regulations are subtle reminders that, under the surface, many people still believe that having babies somehow makes you less committed to your job.

Like a motorcycle accident or testicular cancer could happen to even the most dedicated worker, but having a family is a sign that you’re not committed enough to your job. And therefore don’t deserve the same compensation when your body interrupts your work. 

Perhaps even those who are guilty of this bias wouldn’t word it that way, but laws like this one tap us on the shoulder to remind us that it still happens. 

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