04.13.16

Scott, DeLauro, and Murray Lead 76 Members of Congress in Supporting the Department of Labor’s Actions on Paid Sick Leave

WASHINGTON, DC — This week, Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) led a group of 76 Members of Congress in writing to the U.S. Department of Labor to express strong support for the proposed rule implementing Executive Order 13706, Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors.

“The lack of guaranteed paid sick days forces far too many working families to make an impossible choice between caring for themselves and their loved ones and providing for them. The American people deserve better,” the Members wrote. “That is why we support Senator Patty Murray and Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s bill, the Healthy Families Act, which would guarantee workers the right to earn up to seven paid sick days to care for themselves or a loved one who is sick, or take time off to address domestic violence.”

“Providing paid sick days benefits both workers and employers. The proposed rule will improve the economy and efficiency of federal contracting. Evidence from the private sector indicates that paid sick days help reduce the costs of employee turnover, reduce the risk of workplace contagion and injury, and lead to improvements in worker productivity,” the letter continues. “The experience of employers in states and localities with paid sick day laws and ordinances also shows that most employers do not face undue burdens or challenges when these laws go into effect.”

Nationally, nearly 4-in-10 private sector workers do not have access to any sick leave at all. Low-wage workers are disproportionately represented in that population. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost all workers in the top 25 percent of the economy have access to paid sick days (84 percent) while only 20 percent of workers in the bottom 10 percent have some sick leave available. The proposed rule will help to close that gap by directly benefiting an estimated 828,000 employees of federal contractors, including an estimated 437,000 employees who currently receive no paid sick days.

The full letter can be read here.

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