[1] Mont. Code Ann. 39-51-202 through 39-51-204. Under unemployment insurance, a covered employer is defined to one of the following: (1) total payroll for current or previous calendar year exceeds $1,000; (2) an employer that acquires a business already subject to Montana UI; (3) an employer that is subject to Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA); an employer that employs agricultural workers and pay more than $20,000 in cash for ag labor in any quarter from the previous or current year; (5) employer that employs 10 or more ag workers in 20 different weeks during the current or previous year; or (6) employ domestic or household workers and pay more than $1,000 in a quarter of current or previous year.
[2] Qualifying wages is defined in Mont. Code Ann. 39-51-2105. “To qualify for benefits, an individual must have been paid total wages for employment in the base period in an amount: (1) not less than 1 ½ times the wages earned in the calendar quarter in which wages were the highest during the base period; however, the total wages in the base period must be equal to or greater than 7% of the average annual wage described in 39-51-2201; or (2) equal to or greater than 50% of the average annual wage described in 39-51-2201.”
[3] This definition of serious health condition is similar to federal Family Medical Leave Act. This includes: (i) continuing treatment by a health care provider that results in incapacity of more than three consecutive calendar days, such as pneumonia, surgery or broken bones; (ii) chronic conditions that require periodic visits to provider, continue over extended period, and cause episodic rather than continuing periods of incapacity, such as diabetes or epilepsy; or (iii) conditions requiring multiple treatments and recovery from treatments, such as cancer. See Code of Federal Regulations, Title 29, Section 825.115, as of Feb. 2023.
[4] Wages is defined in MCA 39-51-201(25).
[5] MBPC calculation using Department of Labor and Industry, “Quarterly News: 4th Quarter 2021,” accessed Feb. 2023.
[6] Workers contribute less than half of one percent of their total earnings (0.451%). $10 * 0.00451 = 4.5 cents. Premium estimated through program cost model created by the Colorado Fiscal Institute and adjusted by the Montana Budget & Policy Center. Montana Budget & Policy Center, “Helping People Balance Work and Family: It’s Within Montana’s Reach,” June 2016,
[7] Governor’s Office of Budget and Program Planning, Fiscal Note, HB 228, February 2, 2021. The fiscal note for HB 228, which estimated total benefit expenditures at $68 million for FY 2024 and $71 million for FY 2025, is consistent with the analysis by Montana Budget & Policy Center, “Helping People Balance Work and Family: It’s Within Montana’s Reach,” June 2016.
[8] Self-employed individual is defined as an individual who has net earnings from self-employment in a trade or business, which may be a sole proprietor, an independent contractor, or a member of a partnership, and includes those net earnings in reporting self-employment income for social security purposes provided in 42 U.S.C. 411 or in Code of Federal Regulations, Title 20, Section 404.1065.
[9] Montana Budget & Policy Center, “Paid Family and Medical Leave: Supporting Families, Business, and the Economy,” Nov. 2015.
[10] U.S. Census Bureau, “C23001: Sex by Age by Employment Status for the Population 16 Years and Over, 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates,” accessed Feb. 2023.
[11] Reinhard, S.C., et. al., “Valuing the Invaluable 2019 Update,” AARP Public Policy Institute, Nov. 2019.
[12] Department of Labor and Industry, “2022 Montana Labor Day Report,” Sept. 2022.
[13] Meta-analysis found that turnover of an employee earning up to $75,000 annually could cost a business between 10%-30% of that original employee’s earnings. Boushey, H. and Glynn, S., “There are Significant Business Costs to Replacing Employees,” Center for American Progress, Nov. 2012. Average earnings in Montana in 2021 were $49,340. Ten percent and 30 percent of average annual wage is $4,934 and $14,802, respectively. Department of Labor & Industry, “Montana Informational Wage Rates by Occupation,” Apr. 2022.,
[14] Appelbaum, E., and Milkman, R., “Leaves That Pay: Employer and Work Experiences with Paid Family Leave in California,” Center for Economic and Policy Research, 2011.
[15] Houser, L., and Vartanian, T., “Pay Matters: The Positive Economic Impacts of Paid Family Leave for Families, Businesses, and the Public,” Center for Women and Work, Jan. 2012.
[16] Houser, L., and Vartanian, T. “Pay Matters: The Positive Economic Impacts of Paid Family Leave for Families, Businesses, and the Public.”
[17] Houser, L., and Vartanian, T. “Pay Matters: The Positive Economic Impacts of Paid Family Leave for Families, Businesses, and the Public.”
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