Jeff Smulyan: Supporting paid leave is a smart business investment

I’ve always believed that if you want employees to run through walls for you, you’d better run through even more for them. From the mail room to the boardroom, running a successful business requires sacrifice, dedication and commitment. But commitment isn’t something your employees just give you. It’s something you have to earn by giving them the time and space to care for themselves and their families without giving up a paycheck.

In my nearly 50 years running Emmis here in Indianapolis, I’ve worked with thousands of people who welcomed new babies, said goodbye to aging parents or experienced life-changing personal and family emergencies. From day one, we offered paid family and medical leave—not just because it was the right thing to do but because it was good business.

However, not all businesses in Indiana offer paid leave, and unfortunately, that’s because they are not required to do so. Gov. Mike Braun’s executive order to increase paid family leave for full-time government employees was a great start, but in excluding nearly 75% of Indiana’s population, it falls far short for most Hoosier families—particularly women, who make up nearly half of our state’s labor force. Too often, parents, particularly mothers, are forced to choose between their families and their jobs. Yet, if Indiana women were able to work at the same rate as women who live in places that offer paid leave, it would add up to 91,000 more workers and $3.3 billion more wages earned across our state.

The truth is that in a tight labor market, paid leave policies are a win-win. They make it easier for businesses to recruit and retain talent, and they allow employees to take care of themselves and their families, achieving a work-life balance with the paid time they need at home so they’ll then come back refreshed and ready to work.

At Emmis, paid leave policies meant we had fewer absences and lower turnover and health care costs. A study found that replacing employees can cost up to 150% of their annual wages. And according to a financial analysis of more than 10,000 businesses, those that implemented paid leave experienced 4.6% more revenue and 6.8% more profit per full-time-equivalent employee. In fact, for every $1 dollar invested in supporting employees, manufacturing and tech companies saw returns of $2.57 and $2.64, respectively.

Family-friendly policies also protect our future workforce and our economy. When parents can take care of their families, their children thrive and are more likely to become productive, skilled workers themselves, who then contribute to a more resilient and globally competitive economy, here in Indiana and beyond.

Supporting paid family and sick leave in Indiana is a smart investment in our economic future and also in our families and communities. We can’t claim to be a business-friendly state if we don’t run through a few more walls to support the hardworking families who make our businesses succeed. During the interim session, I urge the governor and our policymakers to uphold our state’s reputation and reconsider passing a paid family leave policy that makes sure no Hoosier will ever have to choose between their job and their family.•

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Smulyan is the founder and CEO of Emmis in Indianapolis.