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In a much-needed and encouraging step toward implementing the executive order President Obama issued on Labor Day, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) today proposed a rule to give 828,000 workers who service federal contracts expanded access to paid sick time, including nearly 437,000 workers who are currently not guaranteed a single paid sick day.

This rule offers hundreds of thousands of workers the promise of having paid sick days they can use to recover from common illness, seek preventive care, or care for sick children or other relatives. And hundreds of thousands more will gain access to more time than they have now, as well as the right to use that time to care for family members.

This is an important development for these workers and their families, and it helps pave the way for the national paid sick days law the country needs, the Healthy Families Act. But the measure is not yet final and DOL will now be collecting comments on the proposal from the public for the next 30 days. It is critical that DOL finalize the rule on schedule.

That’s why the National Partnership will be galvanizing supporters throughout the comment period through PaidSickDays.org and our website, on Twitter and via @PaidSickDays, and more. You can help by submitting your own comment and spreading the word. Every comment counts, so please watch for more on how you can help secure this victory.