The Family Leave scam.

There is a push by some Republicans to further the cause of a family leave mandate.  I don't know what form this would take, but such things for me, go into the same category as minimum wage.  Government intrusion into the free market workplace.

Mr. Miller starts a business selling widgets.  For a while, his business does okay, and he hires workers to work for him.  At some point, Mr. Jones opens a similar widget shop in the same neighborhood.  How does Mr. Miller insure he gets enough of the business in the neighborhood to keep going?

One way would be to lower his prices.  Of course, he can only do this to a point, and the lower income may affect his meeting his financial obligations.  Another way to do it is to provide not just a quality product, but the very best customer service.  To do this, means he has to hire the employees who are the best in personality and drive.  If he hires just a body to fill a spot, that person may not really care about Mer. Miller's business because he is just wanting that paycheck. But someone who has a desire to excel recognizes a growing business means growing opportunities.  That leads to customers preferring  Mr. Miller's friendly, helpful and knowledgeable  staff to Mr. Jones' employees who just go through the motions of working.

So, Mr. Miller has to carefully screen his employees to find the best people, but there are no guarantees they will accept the position.  How does he do this?  Well, compensation is the key.  He may not be able to offer a much greater wage, and that in itself may not be the only factor for a person to work for him.  If Mr. Miller can offer a group insurance plan, it might help.  This is where family leave comes in.  This is another benefit that can be offered in lieu of higher hourly wages which would sway a serious employee.  Competition doesn't always have to take the form of higher wages or lower prices.  Of course, if the work place is a positive enough environment, your employees are usually that much more productive and may make it possible to employ a smaller staff cutting those costs and allowing the employer to offer more benefit options.

When the government mandates an across-the-board benefit like the family leave, It destroys competition and ultimately causes failing business and higher unemployment.