Work and Family

Paid Sick Leave

The UAW and a broad coalition of labor, women’s and other groups are strongly supporting the Healthy Families Act (H.R. 1542; S. 910), sponsored by Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Rep. Rosa DeLauro D-Conn. This bill would require employers with 15 or more employees to provide a minimum of seven days of paid sick leave for those who work at least 30 hours per week, and a prorated amount for those who work at least 20 but fewer than 30 hours. This leave could be used by workers to care for their own and their families’ medical needs.

According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, 48 percent of full-time, private-sector workers and 79 percent of low-wage workers have no paid sick days. Lack of paid sick days is a particular problem for working women, because they are still predominately responsible for meeting family caregiving needs and must miss work without pay when a child or elderly parent is sick.

Lack of paid sick leave also has negative health ramifications. When sick children are sent to school with a contagious illness, other children often become sick. Similarly, when sick employees continue to work, other employees may become ill. Indeed, it is estimated that this costs our national economy $180 billion annually in lost productivity.

The UAW believes that America’s work and family public policy have not caught up with developments in society. The reality is that the majority of families today rely on two paychecks to make ends meet. Balancing the demands of work and family is a tremendous challenge for working people today. One important way Congress could help address this challenge would be to pass the Healthy Families Act to guarantee working families a minimum amount of paid sick leave.

Action

Family and Medical Leave

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was enacted almost 15 years ago. Since then, more than 50 million Americans have been able to take unpaid time off from work when medical crises strike or babies are born.

Despite the law’s great success, millions of workers still cannot afford to take advantage of its protections because they cannot afford to take unpaid leave. To address this problem, the UAW and our progressive allies strongly support legislation, such as the Family Leave Insurance Act of 2007 (S. 1681) sponsored by Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., to provide paid family and medical leave.

Meanwhile, opponents of the FMLA are calling for changes to the regulations that would roll back many of the protections that it provides to American workers. One suggestion is to change the definition of “serious health condition” to deny job-protected unpaid leave to workers unless their condition, or the condition of the person they are caring for, lasts 10 or more days. Current regulations define a “serious health condition,” in part, as a condition that requires more than three consecutive days for treatment and recovery. This proposed change would leave out numerous serious conditions. For example, a worker with acute appendicitis may not be covered because, with medical treatment, the person can be back to work in fewer than 10 days. Of the 50 million Americans who have taken job-protected leave under the FMLA, half have taken leave for a serious illness, whether their own or a family member’s, for 10 or fewer days.

FMLA opponents are also pushing for a change in the regulations that define “intermittent leave,” to force workers to take leave for no less than a half-day at a time. This change would force many employees to take unnecessary leave without pay. Workers who require frequent, short treatments, such as chemotherapy or prenatal visits, would be forced to exhaust their FMLA leave sooner than necessary.

The UAW and our progressive allies are strongly opposing these proposals to roll back the protections afforded by the FMLA. We will be urging Congress to block any attempt by the Bush administration to implement these dangerous changes through new regulations.

In response to a recommendation from the Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors, Sen. Dodd introduced the Support for Injured Service Members Act (S. 1894). This bill would extend the Family and Medical Leave Act to provide up to six months of job-protected leave to employees to care for family members who have been seriously injured in combat. Because of its strong bipartisan support, this bill was included as an amendment to the legislation that passed the House and Senate last year to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). However, President Bush vetoed the SCHIP legislation, and the House was not able to override his veto. At the time this paper was written, it was still unclear what would finally happen with the SCHIP legislation and the Support for Injured Service Members Act.

Action

Child Care

Child care is a daily concern for millions of parents. Every day approximately 12 million infants, toddlers and preschoolers spend a substantial portion of their day in child care. Millions more school-age children need safe and enriching experiences available both before and afterschool. Quality child care, preschool and after-school opportunities can make a real difference in whether these children succeed and stay in school. Yet many parents, particularly low-income parents, have serious difficulties gaining access to the care that they want and need for their children. Too often, quality child care, preschool and afterschool care is not affordable, or is simply not available at all.

Parents in low-wage jobs often struggle to afford the high cost of care. Some pay as much as half of their weekly paycheck in order to put their children in the best possible child care setting. Others may find themselves resorting to care that they know is not the most supportive arrangement, simply because they cannot afford better options. Child care assistance can be a lifeline for these parents by helping them to afford decent child care and thus to continue working. For this reason, the UAW and our allies strongly support increased federal funding for child care, preschool and afterschool programs.

In addition, the UAW supports the Choices in Child Care Act (S. 820; H.R. 1438), introduced by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Rep. Laura DeLauro, D-Conn. This legislation would establish at-home infant care demonstration programs that would allow struggling families to receive a subsidy to care for the infants in their own homes. This measure would give low-income parents the option of personally providing the quality care that is critical to an infant’s development. It also would help to address the shortage of available, affordable infant care providers for low-income families.

Action