Promoting Flexible Work Schedules

As part of our multi-state shared agenda, the Progressive States Network is working with its partners and leading experts to promote paid sick days reforms in states across the country. These reforms will allow parents to take care of sick children and workers to be more productive, while protecting the overall public health and preventing transmission of diseases within the workplace.  Fully 86% of the public in polling by the Public Welfare Foundation in 2008 supported enacting laws that guarantee paid sick days for all workers

Last week, the Connecticut House approved legislation to guarantee paid sick days off for employees in any business with fifty or more employees.  While the Senate adjourned the regular session without voting on the bill, a special budget session to be convened might have a chance to enact the bill.

Fifteen states have introduced paid sick days legislation to ensure that workers are able to regain their health without losing pay, or even worse, their jobs.  These are based on model policies that have already passed in San Francisco, CA, Milwaukee, WI and Washington, DC.

One key victory on election day was a victory for paid sick days in Milwaukee by a commanding 69-31% of city voters.  Parents in Milwaukee who need to take a day off to care for a sick child can now afford to do so now that their paid sick days referendum has Milwaukee following the lead of San Francisco, CA and Washington DC. in adopting a program to require employers to provide paid sick days.  Under the measure, full-time workers in large businesses will earn up to 9 paid sick days a year and workers in smaller businesses with fewer than 10 employees will earn up to 5 days a year.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "Fed and Treasury officials have identified the disease. It's called de-leveraging, or the unwinding of debt. During the credit boom, financial institutions and American households took on too much debt."  But let's not buy into a false equivalence of "financial institutions" and those "American households" borrowing beyond their means.

Milwaukee has a paid sick leave referendum on the ballot for November that would allow employees to take leave for medical treatment, preventive care, or diagnosis for themselves, as well as to care for a close family member who is sick or who needs diagnosis or preventive care. Additionally, employees would be allowed to use the time to deal with domestic violence or sexual assault (for example, using accrued time to flee to safety.)  Employees at firms with 10 workers or less could accumulate up to 40 hours, whereas larger companies would have to provide up to 72 hours of paid sick leave.

Paid Sick Days Approved by California Assembly

Efforts to make the workplace more family-friendly achieved some important victories in the last week in Washington, D.C. and New Jersey.

The 2007 to 2008 legislative sessions are shaping up to be ones where work and family issues take center stage, as voters increasingly demand that legislatures make giving people the time to care for their families the priority it is every day at the kitchen table. Below are a few of those key issues and the organizations active in different states.

As the 2008 legislative session takes shape, a large coalition of organizations is working together to help families gain the flexibility to better balance the demands of work and family.