It's been more than 20 years since passage of the landmark Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off for medical or family reasons without losing their jobs.

Some workers' advocates and politicians say it's time to plug a big hole in the law by requiring that workers get paid while they're on leave. But the change faces stiff opposition from some small business and other groups that argue that it would be too expensive and an unnecessary government intrusion.

Saying the reality for many families is that both parents must work, President Obama has pushed for paid family leave, calling it an "economic necessity" in his State of the Union address. He proposed $2.2 billion in next year's federal budgetto help five states get paid leave programs up and running, and an additional $35 million for states to conduct planning and startup activities.

Meanwhile, Democrats have reintroduced the Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act that would create a national paid leave program to cover two-thirds of people's wages for up to 60 days a year. With Republicans in control of Congress, however, there's little chance it will pass.

Supporters say that many workers can't afford to take unpaid leave and others aren't eligible for leaves because they work for small employers. The law allows workers to take time off to care for a newborn or adopted child, or if they or family members have a serious health condition. But it doesn't apply to companies with fewer than 50 workers, and workers have to have worked for at least a year and logged at least 1,250 hours in the previous year to qualify for the benefit.

Only 13 percent of workers had access to paid family leave in 2013, according to the Department of Labor's 2014 national compensation survey. Meanwhile, 59 percent of workers were eligible for unpaid leave under the FMLA in 2012.

Four states have implemented paid family leave programs, and their experience may provide guidance for a national paid family leave law.

Three of them — California, New Jersey and Rhode Island — fund the programs entirely by withholding employee wages. The programs are administered by states' unemployment insurance agencies in conjunction with temporary disability insurance programs, according to human resources consultant Mercer. (Washington state has a paid leave program on the books, but it has never been implemented because legislators haven't approved funding.)

California's program is well established after more than a decade. It allows workers up to six weeks of leave annually at 55 percent of their weekly pay, up to a cap of $1,104 weekly in 2015.  Read More at NPR

Is It Time To Make Medical And Family Leave Paid?