Work and Family

Paid Sick Leave

Half of all private sector workers have no paid sick days and the problem is even worse for employees in low-paying jobs, where less than 25 percent receive any paid sick days. Lack of paid sick days is a particular problem for working women, because they are still predominantly 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 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 policies 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 legislation to guarantee working families a minimum amount of paid sick leave.

In the last Congress, the UAW and a broad coalition of labor, women’s and other groups strongly supported the Healthy Families Act, sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. This bill would have required 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 less than 30 hours. This leave could be used by workers to care for their own and their families’ medical needs. In the 111th Congress, the UAW and our progressive allies will renew our efforts to pass the Healthy Families Act.

President Obama is committed to requiring employers to provide seven paid sick days per year. In addition, he has pledged to initiate a strategy to encourage all of the states to adopt paid leave systems, providing $1.5 billion in funds to assist states with start-up costs and to help states offset the costs for employees and employers.

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 or adopted.

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 sponsored by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., to provide paid family and medical leave.

Meanwhile, opponents of the FMLA have called for changes to the regulations that would roll back many of the protections that it provides to American workers. This includes changes in the definitions of “serious health condition” and “intermittent leave” that would be harmful to workers. The UAW and our progressive allies will be urging the Obama administration to reject these ill-advised Bush administration changes.

President Obama has vowed to expand the FMLA to cover businesses with 25 or more employees and to cover more purposes, including allowing workers to take leave for elder care needs, to participate in their children’s academic activities at school, and to address domestic violence and sexual assault issues. During the coming year, the UAW will work to enact these important expansions of the FMLA.

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 after school. 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 after-school 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 after-school programs.

President Obama is committed to expanding high quality after-school opportunities. He has called for doubling funding for the main federal support for after-school programs, the 21st Century Learning Centers program, to serve an additional 1 million children. The UAW and our progressive allies will be supporting legislation to accomplish this objective.

Action