As you report (“Backers of paid family leave in Maine have high hopes for new bill’s prospects,” May 17), there are legislators in Maine who want to pass paid family leave. The program would be paid for by a payroll tax on both employers and employees, and would provide some benefits to those who are sick or need time off for, say, a sick relative.

This proposal contains what is often referred to as a perverse incentive: All employees would pay in, but only those with problems would receive the benefits. In other words, money would flow from those who are well to those who are unwell, or from those who are responsible to those who are irresponsible. That is a recipe for problems (such as fraud) down the road.

As an alternative, suppose all employees paid in, and the money was theirs, although kept in a separate account. A person with an illness or sick child could draw on that account, without extracting money from other employees. Upon retirement, a person could then use any money remaining in his or her account to pay for that retirement.

This would encourage employees to keep healthy, and would eliminate the problem of fraud, while providing (some) funds for those who are sick. The elimination of perverse incentives would benefit us all.

William Vaughan Jr.
Chebeague Island