November 21, 2001
MEMORANDUM FOR HUMAN RESOURCES
DIRECTORS (CPM 2001-11)
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FROM:
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DORIS HAUSSER
Acting Associate Director
for Workforce
Compensation and Performance
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SUBJECT:
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Report to Congress on Paid Parental Leave
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We are pleased to announce the issuance of the Office of Personnel Managements
(OPMs) report to Congress concerning our findings and recommendations on paid
parental leave for the purpose of childbirth and adoption. The report is
available on OPMs Web site at http://www.opm.gov/oca.
House Report 106-1033 for H.R. 5658 (Public Law 106-544, December 15, 2000)
directed OPM to develop alternative means for providing Federal employees with
at least 6 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth or
adoption of a child (apart from any other paid leave). In addition, the House
Report directed OPM to determine whether paid parental leave would assist
agencies in their recruitment and retention efforts.
Our study shows that the Federal Governments leave policies and programs
compare favorably with benefits offered by most private sector companies. In
addition, human resources directors in Federal Executive departments and
agencies overwhelmingly indicated that an additional paid parental leave benefit
would not be a major factor in enhancing their recruitment and retention
situations.
As part of OPMs Strategic Compensation Initiative to modernize Federal
compensation systems so that agencies have access to flexible, competitive
compensation systems, we will seek the views of interested parties on the
importance of paid parental leave within the context of an overall Federal
compensation package. Until a
comprehensive study of compensation systems can be completed, we believe
employees can meet their family responsibilities with the many leave and work
scheduling flexibilities that are already available to them.
As a first step in our effort to help Federal agencies educate their
workforce about these existing benefits, we have attached two fact sheets on the
leave and work scheduling flexibilities currently available to employees to
provide time off for parental responsibilities.
The fact sheets also are available on OPMs Web site at www.opm.gov/oca.
Last Modified: 3:16:36 PM on Thursday, September 04, 2003
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