When lawmakers passed California's paid family leave law two years ago, they probably had workers like Carla Dartis Carter in mind.
The 45-year-old Oakland woman wants to take time off work to spend with her newly adopted son. The law, which goes into effect Thursday, will allow her to do that -- without torching her personal finances.
"It's a stress reliever, the whole notion of not wondering how am I going to pay the electric bill," said Carter, who with her self-employed, musician husband adopted 6-month-old Jeremy this month.
As of Friday, more than 3,000 people had applied for the program, which will allow most workers to take up to six weeks off to attend to a new baby or adopted child, or care for an ailing spouse or parent, while receiving at least part of their pay.
The law, the first of its kind in the nation, has raised the hackles of businesses that fear the loss of key employees for extended periods. But parents like Carter are welcoming it with open arms -- 90% of the requests for the program have come from new parents.
"I just want to bond with my adopted son," said Carter, who works for a Los Altos nonprofit and appeared at a Sacramento news conference Tuesday with supporters of the law.
The law, which was sponsored by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) and got a high-profile boost from actor-director Rob Reiner, bolsters family leave rights guaranteed under existing state and federal laws. It provides workers with as much as 55% of their pay while they're off work. Maximum weekly payments will be $728 this year and $840 in 2005.
Carter, for example, plans to take all six weeks of partially paid leave allowed under the new program, as well as an additional six months of unpaid leave as allowed under current law.
"Workers have often been forced to choose between their job and their family. This allows them to get some wages while they are out," said Netsy Firestein, executive director of the Labor Project for Working Families, a Berkeley-based nonprofit. "It reflects how families really live today and the stresses they are under. It's a wage replacement fund."
The law covers all California workers who pay state disability insurance taxes, no matter how few hours they work or how small their employer.
The program is being financed with a 0.08% payroll tax that began Jan. 1. On average, workers will pay $4 a month in family leave tax, with a maximum annual payment of $55, according to the state Employment Development Department, which administers the program.
