As President Obama Extends Paid Leave to Federal Workers, Brown to Call for Passage of Bill That Would Help the Nearly 2 Million Ohioans Without Paid Sick Leave

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With flu season in full swing and with President Obama signing an Executive Order to expand paid leave for federal workers, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) will call for passage of the Healthy Families Act (HFA), legislation that would help the 1,966,691 Ohioans who don’t have paid sick leave.

“For too many Americans, a sick day means a day without pay,” Brown said. “Because healthy workers are often more productive workers, paid sick leave isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s good for business. But not all employers recognize this, and many workers are left without unions to stand up for them. The Healthy Families Act would allow American workers to earn the sick leave that would once have been negotiated on their behalf by unions through collective bargaining. Paid sick days save employers money. They reduce turnover and help increase productivity. Paid sick days are vital to maintaining public health.”

In 2013, Brown joined an Ohio employer to announce his support for the HFA, legislation which would allow workers to earn paid sick time while protecting business owners. The HFA would ensure that workers have access to paid sick leave. Specifically, the bill would:

• Allow workers to earn paid sick time to address medical needs and care for family members: Workers can earn up to 56 hours (seven days) of paid sick time—one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Workers could use this time to recover from illness, care for a sick family member, obtain preventative or diagnostic treatment, or to seek help if they are victims of domestic violence. 

• Provide important worker protections while addressing business concerns: Employers with fewer than 15 employees are exempt from the bill. Employers with existing leave policies can maintain them as long as their existing leave policies meet minimum requirements described in the HFA. The bill also permits employers to require workers to provide documentation supporting any request for leave longer than three consecutive days. 

• Decrease employee turnover and improve productivity to benefit workers, business, and our economy by reducing the spread of disease: 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.

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