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Ethical Obligations to Provide Maternal and Parental Leave Benefits

By Elizabeth P. Clayborne, MD, MA, FACEP; David Nathan Hoke, MD, FACEP; Heidi Knowles, MD, FACEP; Catherine A. Marco, MD, FACEP; Norine A. McGrath, MD, FACEP; Matthew L. Wong, MD, FACEP | on September 11, 2020 | 0 Comment
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This position should constitute a bare minimum. While considerations need to be made for smaller groups and unique employment scenarios, the described benefits dictate that for the well-being of the physician, their family, and patients, paid leave be provided wherever possible. As not all positions offer all benefits, a reasonable standard would be that family leave is comparable to short-term disability, so paid family leave should be offered whenever short-term disability is. As a profession that strives to be both evidence-based and beneficent, we should advocate for a policy at least as generous as the federal government provides its employees.

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References

  1. Iacurci, Greg. CNBC. Paid parental leave on tap for 2.1 million Americans as bill heads to White House. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/18/paid-parental-leave-is-coming-to-more-than-2-million-americans.html. Accessed Aug. 24, 2020.
  2. S. Department of Labor: Family and Medical Leave (FMLA). Available at: https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/benefits-leave/fmla. Accessed Aug. 24, 2020.
  3. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Parental leave system. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/els/soc/PF2_1_Parental_leave_systems.pdf. Accessed Aug. 24, 2020.
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  8. Desilver D. Access to paid family leave varies widely across employers, industry. Pew Research Center. Available at: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/03/23/access-to-paid-family-leave-varies-widely-across-employers-industries/. Accessed Aug. 24, 2020.
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  10. Juengst SB, Royston A, Huang I, et al. Family leave and return-to-work experiences of physician mothers. JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(10):e1913054.
  11. Heymann J, Raub A, Earle A. Creating and using new data sources to analyze the relationship between social policy and global health: the case of maternal leave. Public Health Rep. 2011;126(Suppl 3):127-134.
  12. Berger LM, Hill J, Waldfogel J. Maternity leave, early maternal employment and child health and development in the US. Econ J. 2005;115(501):F29-47.
  13. Jou J, Kozhimannil KB, Abraham JM, et al. Paid maternity leave in the United States: associations with maternal and infant health. Matern Child Health J. 2018;22(2): 216-225.
  14. American Medical Association: Parental Leave H-405.954. Available at: https://policysearch.ama-assn.org/policyfinder/detail/parental%20leave?uri=%2FAMADoc%2FHOD-405.954.xml. Accessed Aug. 24, 2020.
  15. Family and medical leave. Available at: https://www.acep.org/patient-care/policy-statements/family-and-medical-leave/. Accessed Aug. 24, 2020.

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Topics: ChildcareEquityEthicsParental LeavePregnancy

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