President Obama Signs Executive Order Expanding Paid Sick Time

Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund Applauds President’s Labor Day Announcement

The Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund congratulates President Obama for signing an Executive Order today requiring federal contractors to offer their employees up to seven days of paid sick leave per year. The welcome news means that about 300,000 people working on federal contracts will soon be able to earn paid sick time they need to care for themselves or a family member, such as a child, parent, spouse, or domestic partner.

An estimated 44 million private sector workers–about 40 percent of the total private-sector workforce–do not have access to paid sick leave, the White House said. Low- and middle-income workers who make up the Rising American Electorate—unmarried women, people of color and millennials—are much less likely to have paid sick leave than high-income workers. While about 60 percent of all workers are eligible under the Family and Medical Leave Act to take unpaid, job-protected leave for family and medical reasons for more extended absences, many workers are without coverage for shorter-term health care needs and others may not be able to afford to stay home sick if it means the loss of pay.

In a Labor Day speech in Boston, the President renewed his call on Congress to pass legislation expanding paid sick and family leave. He also announced new Department of Labor rules giving federal contract workers new tools to demand equal pay.

The President’s actions are the right step in making our nation more friendly towards workers and families. The Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund again urges Congress to pass the Healthy Families Act, which would require all businesses with 15 or more employees to offer up to seven job-protected paid sick days each year, and the FAMILY Act, which would guarantee every working American paid family and medical leave to care for a new child, a seriously ill family member, or their own serious illness. The proposals would benefit millions of Americans, including economically vulnerable members of the Rising American Electorate who often need help the most.

In a conference call with reporters, US Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez summed up why we need family and medical leave laws to match the changing structure of the American family.

“We live in a ‘Modern Family’ world, but our leave laws are stuck in the ‘Leave it to Beaver’ and ‘Ozzie and Harriet’ era,’’ Secretary Perez said.

He’s right. Today about 57 million women in the United States are unmarried—widowed, divorced, separated, or single. That’s one out of every two U.S. women. We need new laws to ensure that single mothers and other members of the Rising American Electorate can take the time they need to recover from an illness, and aren’t forced to choose between taking an unpaid day off work—losing much-needed income in the process—and sending a sick child to school who should be home recovering in bed.