Family Values at Work - A Multi-State Consortium

Washington State

Many T-Shirts

The Washington Family Leave Coalition is coordinated by the Economic Opportunity Institute and includes representatives of seniors, women, labor, health professionals, children's advocates, faith communities, low income workers, employers, non-profits and other organizations.

We're working together to make it easier for parents to raise healthy children and care for aging parents; for workers to care for themselves or their partners in the event of a serious illness; and for businesses to offer modern workplace standards that improve productivity and worker health.

The Coalition has successfully pushed through state-wide legislation that allows workers with paid leave to use it to care for sick family members, and that lays the foundation for a family and medical leave insurance program for all workers. Unfortunate, the start date for Washington’s family leave insurance program (FLI) has been officially rolled back from 2009 to October 2012 because of the state fiscal crisis. Meanwhile, the Washington Family Leave Coalition is pursuing both state and federal strategies to fund the program and begin benefit payments as soon as possible. Advocates are advocating for passage of the FIRST Act in Congress, which would provide grants to states to help start family leave insurance programs. They also have a bill ready for introduction in the state legislature next January to expand FLI to include care of seriously ill family members and the worker’s own serious health condition, in addition to leave for new parents, and to establish an employee-paid payroll premium system to sustain the program.

Contact:  Marilyn Watkins, marilyn@eoionline.org, (206) 529-6370
www.eoionline.org, www.familyleave.org