Obama Shifts Federal Sick-Leave Rules, Urges Congress To Follow - NPR

Federal workers with a pressing need can take an advance of up to six weeks of sick leave under a new policy unveiled by President Obama on Thursday. The White House is urging Congress to make paid sick leave mandatory in the U.S.

The president signed a memorandum today instructing federal agencies to advance up to six weeks of paid sick leave to workers who need the time to care for a new child, a family member or for similar uses.

As for the private sector, the White House says, 43 million workers do not have paid sick leave. And the new push to help them has been building for months now.

"U.S. labor laws date to the 1930s, a time when most families had a stay-at-home mother," NPR's Jennifer Ludden reported a year ago, when she interviewed state legislators about paid sick leave. "The only federally mandated leave covers just half of the workforce, and many people tell pollsters they can't afford to use it because it's unpaid."

The Obama administration says the lack of paid sick time creates situations in which employees can't take time to recover from illness, or their children are sent to school with a fever because their parents can't take time off from work to stay home with them.

The push for wider access to paid sick leave comes after areport by the White House Council of Economic Advisers, which cited "research that shows that paid and unpaid leave can help workers balance obligations at home and in the workplace — and help parents and those with medical needs remain in the workforce."

"The United States is currently the only developed country that does not offer government-sponsored paid maternity leave," the report stated. "Many of these countries also provide paid paternity leave, elder care benefits, and generous paid sick leave."

Today, the administration also promoted the Healthy Families Act, which would let millions of U.S. workers earn up to seven days of paid sick time each year. The legislation would apply to employers with at least 15 workers.

President Obama's budget will propose more than $2 billion in funding and grants to help states install their own sick leave systems.  Read More at 43 million workers do not have paid sick leave

Obama Shifts Federal Sick-Leave Rules, Urges Congress To Follow