News

Push is on for paid sick leave

The president is backing The Healthy Families Act, which requires employers with 15 or more employees to offer up to a week of paid sick time.

January 16, 2015

President Barak Obama has announced plans to urge Congress to pass legislation mandating paid sick leave for workers.

The president is backing The Healthy Families Act (HR1286) sponsored by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn), which requires employers who "employ 15 or more employees for each working day during 20 or more workweeks a year, to permit each employee to earn at least 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked."

Under the proposed bill, workers could earn up to a week of paid sick time.

The sick days could be used by the employee to meet their own medical needs, care for the medical needs of family members or deal with medical or legal issues related to domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.