Government has long had its finger in the mix when it comes to what benefits employers must provide their workers.

That’s not a bad thing, necessarily. Few would argue that child labor laws, 40-hour work weeks and overtime requirements are a bad thing. We think the more recent creation of the Family Emergency Leave Act, while difficult at times for companies to administer, is also a benefit compassionate employers do not begrudge.

The envelope is always being pushed, however. One new front is childbirth.

Federal law already assures most women up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child. Many employers voluntarily provide paid maternity leave as a benefit, although it often is at a reduced pay and for a shorter period.

Some states have taken the matter into their own hands, however. New York passed a law in 2016 that gradually extends both the period and pay requirements for women who take maternity leave – from eight weeks at 50 percent pay initially to 12 weeks at 67 percent pay by 2021. California, New Jersey and Rhode Island also have laws mandating periods of partial pay for women on maternity leave.

Federal law also allows fathers who meet certain tenure requirements to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid paternity leave. Men take it less often because babies are expensive and someone has to pay the bills. However, some companies, particularly in California’s Silicon Valley, have added paid paternity leave for fathers as a recruiting tool. Some states are moving to make this a mandate as well.

Trends like this get particularly scary when political do-gooders start trying to outdo one another, damn the cost. New York is about to provide an extreme example.

As we write this, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo is preparing to sign an expanded version of that state’s paid family leave law. The measure mandates New York workers receive three months of paid bereavement leave in the event of the death of a spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, in-law, grandparent or grandchild. We find that absurd and destructive.

Most businesses offer paid bereavement leave in the event of the death of a close relative, although it is usually measured in days, not weeks. Whether there should be more in the event of, say, the death of a child is a fair point for debate.

But the New York measure goes far beyond that to the point of absurdity. Three months paid leave for the death of your mother-in-law? We all know people for whom that would be a three-month celebration. Grandparents also can be distant acquaintances when there’s a divorce in the mix. Abuse of this mandate will be rampant.

Meanwhile, the cost and disruption is potentially devastating small businesses. Tom Grech, president of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, gave this assessment to the New York Post:

“For a small business, I don’t see how anyone could survive anything like that. At the end of the day New York City and New York state are the most expensive places to do business in the country. This just puts another burden on small businesses.”

That is the reality of such overreach. It strangles start-ups and small businesses that traditionally provide most of the new jobs in the economy.

The more the government tells people how to run their businesses the sooner they cease to be businesses. That eventually reverberates in a state’s economy. New York appears intent on learning this the hard way.