Miami’s County Passes a Family Leave Law

Dade County officials approved a measure that will require private businesses to provide unpaid leaves for employees who become new parents or need time to care for sick family members.

The measure, passed 8 to 1 by the Metro-Dade Commission on Tuesday, is effective in 90 days.

Companies with more than 50 employees will have to guarantee workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave every two years to care for a newborn or adopted child or to deal with a serious illness involving the employee, a spouse or a close relative.

“This means we may go back to some of the strong family values that helped make up this country,” said Commissioner Larry Hawkins, sponsor of the measure.

The law applies only to companies in Dade County, but commissioners said they would no longer do business with large companies outside of Dade that do not have family-leave programs.

“They have created a nightmare for us,” said Gail McDonald of Miami-based Ryder System. She said employees in Dade will be eligible for family leave while those elsewhere will not be.