March 22, 2024

Dear Governor Shapiro, President Pro Tempore Ward, Speaker McClinton, Leader Pittman and Leader Bradford,

I’m writing on behalf of Duolingo to express our support for paid family and medical leave in Pennsylvania. Paid leave is good for business, and for our economy – and we urge you to prioritize passing paid leave this year.

As a high profile tech company with hundreds of employees in Pennsylvania, paid leave is very important to us. At Duolingo, our parental leave policy provides sixteen weeks of 100% paid leave for all parents for birth, adoption or placement of a child/children. We have found this to be among the benefi ts most highly valued by our employees. In addition, we provide eight weeks of 100% paid family and medical leave that helps subsidize approved unpaid federal family medical leave or state leave.

We believe that paid leave is critical for a healthy and productive workforce as well as the health of our overall economy. Paid leave is also a pro-business policy: research consistently shows that paid leave policies improve employee retention, productivity, and company morale, all drivers of a healthy, profitable business.

Fourteen other states have created statewide paid leave insurance programs. Our neighboring states of New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Maryland have all passed paid leave. If we want to remain competitive and retain young families in Pennsylvania to staff and grow our businesses, we must do the same.

The private sector can benefit from public policies such as the current paid leave proposal – a statewide program with the option for businesses to choose a private insurance provider, if desired, in PA would ensure wider access to paid leave and create a healthier workforce for others in our business ecosystem.

In short, paid leave is good for business. Legislative priorities for 2024 should include passing paid family & medical leave, in order to make us more competitive, productive and resilient.

Thank you for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Signed,

Luis von Ahn

CEO, Duolingo