The National Partnership for Women and Families reports that almost 30 percent of adults serve as unpaid family caregivers annually. When a family caregiver has a paid job, their caregiving duties will necessitate taking some time off. We want caring and healthier families. A national paid sick days requirement is an overdue policy to strengthen and support American families.
“Generally, the laws require employees to earn an hour of paid sick time for a certain number of hours worked,” said Vicki Shabo, vice president at the National Partnership for Women & Families.
Vicki Shabo, vice president at the National Partnership for Women & Families, told Bloomberg BNA Jan. 23 that the organization opposes the bill because it offers workers a “false choice” between pay and leave time. “Workers need the wages to support their families and they need the time to care for themselves and their loved ones,” she said.
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
In New Jersey, in the year after giving birth, women who take paid leave have been about 40 percent less likely to receive public aid or food stamps, a Rutgers study commissioned by the National Partnership for Women and Families found.
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
“When workers come back, they tend to be more loyal and focused, feel greater happiness, and a resolve to do a good job,” says Vicki Shabo, vice president of the National Partnership For Women & Families, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that was instrumental in getting the FMLA passed in 1993.
“You’re finally starting to see momentum on [paid leave and paid sick days],” says Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families. Over the past decade, Ness has noticed that young parents are becoming increasingly angry at the lack of employer support when they start to have children. “This will be part of the conversation during the next election,” she says. “The sleeping giant is waking up.”
“Ensuring federal employees can take paid time off when new children arrive is not only the right thing to do for the health and well-being of these workers and their families; it would also save the government money through reduced turnover and replacement costs, and it would help the federal government attract and retain a valuable workforce, including much-needed younger workers,” said National Partnership President Debra Ness in a statement.
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
Instead of reading tea leaves about the elections, ask voters what they think. The National Partnership and the Rockefeller Family Fund did just that, commissioning a nationwide election night poll of 2014 voters. Eighty-one percent said it’s important for lawmakers to consider new laws that help keep families economically secure such as paid sick days and family and medical leave insurance. Seventy-four percent of independents, 73 percent of Republicans, 75 percent of men, 95 percent of voters under 30, 97 percent of African-Americans and 95 percent of Latinos agreed.
“What businesses find is that workers are better able to take care of the family responsibilities they might have, come back to work, be more productive, be more engaged and less likely to drop out of the workforce,” said Vicki Shabo, vice president of the National Partnership for Women and Families.
Vicki Shabo, vice president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, called Connecticut’s law “a great first step” and predicted that several other states, notably Oregon and Vermont, will soon follow suit.
“As a large and growing body of research, and the experiences of millions of workers and businesses show, policies that enable workers to care for themselves and their families without risking their jobs or economic security are good for workers, families, businesses and our economy,” said National Partnership President Debra Ness.
The way families live and work today is full of impossible choices, Vicki Shabo, vice president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, tells Yahoo! Parenting. “For workers paid hourly, without a single paid sick day, they’re having to choose between earning a paycheck to pay their rent or to take care of a sick child.”
“This is fantastic news for workers, families and our economy,” Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families.
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
In 2006, San Francisco became the first city in the nation to guarantee access to earned sick days, and in 2011, Connecticut became the first state to mandate the benefit, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families.
In 2015 groups such as the National Partnership for Women and Families hope to close gaps in federal workplace protections to address the needs of pregnant workers. They are urging Congress to pass the Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act to achieve this critical step.