Chicago Wins Paid Sick Days!

Family Values @ Work Director Hails Chicago’s Paid Sick Days Win!

“Today, Chicago became the 35th locality to pass paid sick days—a huge milestone for the movement and the activists in Chicago and across the country working to guarantee this basic workplace standard to Americans everywhere. Because of the great work of the Chicago coalition led by Women Employed, Chicagoans will no longer have to choose between putting food on the table and following doctor’s orders. All of us in the Family Values @ Work network congratulate them for this inspiring victory.

“Chicago workers will be able to use their paid sick days to care for a personal or family illness. The policy’s definition of family includes those whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship, a welcome acknowledgment that in the year 2016, families are more diverse than ever.

“Momentum for paid sick days laws has been growing over the last decade and will reach new heights this year. With the addition of Chicago, San Diego and Minneapolis, cities which passed policies in the past month, more than 11.5 million workers across the country have newly gained access to this essential workplace right. Chicago’s win also represents a renewed push for paid sick days in the Midwest. We look forward to many more victories on the horizon, including two more in the region later this year with campaigns in St. Paul and Duluth, MN and ballot initiatives expected in November in Arizona, Washington state and Albuquerque, New Mexico. We congratulate Chicago, which has joined New York City and Los Angeles — the three most populous cities in the nation — on making history and paving the way for a national policy for paid sick days.”

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Family Values @ Work is a network of coalitions in 24 states working to pass policies that value families at work such as paid sick days and affordable family leave.

PRESS CONTACT: Leslie Patterson, leslie@berlinrosen.com, 646-200-5326