Democrats in Congress have been pushing for a federal paid leave mandate for quite some time. Democrats in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives reintroduced legislation that would create a paid leave program on the national level. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) reintroduced the Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act (S. 463/H.R. 1185), which would allow workers to receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave for reasons such as health conditions, pregnancies, childbirth or to care for a family member. The two legislators first introduced the FAMILY Act in 2013 and in every Congress since then, but it has so far failed to gain sufficient support to become law. President Joe Biden has signaled his support to push for the enactment of the FAMILY Act, as well as a national sick leave bill known as the Healthy Families Act.
The Healthy Families Act
The Healthy Families Act (S. 840/H.R. 1784) would provide employees the opportunity to earn a minimum of seven paid sick days per year to care for themselves or their families. The impetus for the legislation is to provide a safety net for workers forced to choose between caring for themselves or a loved one versus losing necessary income, or even losing their job altogether. The bill would provide paid sick time to employees if they become ill, or if they need time to care for a child, a parent, a spouse or “any other individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.” The Healthy Families Act was first introduced in the House of Representatives by DeLauro and in the Senate by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) on March 14, 2019. The Healthy Families Act has yet to be reintroduced in the 117th Congress.
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