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DeLauro, Harkin Introduce Healthy Families Act to Allow Workers to Earn Paid Sick Days

March 20, 2013

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Senator Tom Harkin(D-IA) today reintroduced the Healthy Families Act, legislation thatwould allow workers to earn paid sick leave to use when they are sick, to carefor a sick family member, to obtain preventive care, or to address the impactsof domestic violence.

"Everyone should be able to take care of themselves and their families whenthey are sick without having to worry about losing their jobs," said DeLauro,senior Democrat on the subcommittee responsible for funding the departments ofLabor and Health and Human Services. "But in today's America too many of ourworkers are unable to do this and the economy suffers because of it. Showing upto work when you are sick costs employers a staggering $160 billion a year inlost productivity and further spreads sickness to others. Ending the currentsystem will ensure people no longer have to choose between their health—ortheir families—and their paycheck."

"A full forty percent of private-sector American workers have no access topaid sick days— meaning that they cannot miss a day of work without risking aday's pay or even their job security. When illness or emergencies strike,millions of hardworking people must make an impossible choice between the jobthey need and their health and well-being—or that of their families," said Harkin,the Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP)Committee. "Under the Healthy Families Act, workers would have thesecurity of knowing that they will be able to tend to their families andthemselves without losing their jobs or their income.

"Paid sick days are also a matter of public health," Harkin continued. "Seventypercent of low-wage workers—including food service, hospitality, nursing homecare and child care employees—have no paid sick days. The Healthy FamiliesAct can help stop the spread of illness, especially by those workers whohave frequent contact with members of the public."

The DeLauro-Harkin bill would allow workers to earn up to 56 hours or sevendays of paid sick leave. Workers would earn one hour of paid sick time forevery 30 hours worked. Employers that already provide paid sick time willnot have to change their current policies, as long as their existing time canbe used for the same purposes. Employers can also require workers to providedocumentation supporting any request for leave longer than three consecutivedays.

DeLauro is a longtime advocate for policies that benefit working Americans, andhas introduced the Healthy Families Act in every Congress since 2004.Her home state of Connecticut was the first in the nation to ensure serviceworkers have access to paid sick leave.

As HELP Committee Chairman, Harkin championed the prevention and wellnessmeasures that are included in the Affordable Care Act. Earlier thisyear, Harkin introduced the Help America Act, which includes criticalpublic health and prevention initiatives to fight chronic disease, encouragehealthier schools, communities and workplaces, and improve physical activityopportunities for individuals with disabilities.

Fast Facts on Paid Sick Days

  • Forty percent of private-sector workers, including seventy percent of low-wage workers, have no paid sick days. Nearly two-thirds of restaurant workers have reported cooking or serving food while sick.
  • A recent study from the University of Arizona showed that within four hours of a sick employee coming to work with a flu-like virus, more than 50 percent of office surfaces were contaminated with the virus.
  • Illness costs our national economy $226 billion annually in lost productivity. The vast majority of this cost—71 percent—is due to "presenteeism," the practice of sick workers coming to work and infecting their colleagues rather than staying at home.
  • Simply by reducing unnecessary emergency room visits, universal paid sick days would save the economy $1 billion in health care costs per year, according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research.
  • In a 2008 University of Chicago survey, one in six workers reported that they or a family member have been fired, suspended, punished, or threatened with being fired—just for taking time off due to personal or family illness.