Why We Think Paid Leave Is a Workers Right, Not a Privilege Valerie Jarrett - Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama and Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls Anyone who has ever faced the challenge of raising or supporting a family, while holding down a job, has faced tough choices along the way, and likely felt stretched between the financial and personal needs of their family. How many working parents know that sinking feeling from sending their child off to school with a fever? How many Americans have to show up to work when battling an illness even when they know they won’t be at their best, it will lengthen their recovery time, and they may likely spread their sickness to others? And how many moms and dads have been denied the ability to bond with their newborn, or to care for an aging parent, all because they could not afford to miss work? These are real, significant moments in life that nearly everyone faces at some point. The last thing we should do is add guilt, fear, and financial hardship on working parents as they try to do what’s right – while keeping their job. Tomorrow, President Obama will announce several initiatives that will spur action and move us toward our goal of fully supporting and empowering working parents in both their roles as workers and parents. We know that states and cities are leading the way in this fight to pass laws to protect their workers. We’ll work to support these states and cities in their efforts to bring paid leave and sick days to all working families, and the President is continuing his push to bring similar flexibility to federal workers. So on Thursday, President Obama will call on Congress to pass the Healthy Families Act, which would allow millions of working Americans to earn up to seven days a year of paid sick time — and call on states and cities to pass similar laws. The President will outline a new plan to help states create paid leave programs, and provide new funding through the Department of Labor for feasibility studies that will help other states and municipalities figure out the best way to implement programs of their own. And the President will sign a Presidential Memorandum that will ensure federal employees have access to at least 6 weeks of paid sick leave when a new child arrives and propose that Congress offer 6 weeks of paid administrative leave as well. These steps build on the progress made when, this past June, President Obama convened the first-ever White House Summit on Working Families, bringing together business leaders, educators, researchers, advocates, members of Congress, state and local government representatives, and American workers to have a real, honest discussion about how we can make our workplaces work better for American families. But the conversation we had that day was only the beginning. It has carried on in the months since then around the country and the President has continued to take action to make progress for families. You can read the full post here: linkd.in/1xZW7wY
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 05:43:15 +0000
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