Family Values @ Work Urges Congress to Pass Families First Coronavirus Response Act

Today, Wendy Chun-Hoon, executive director of Family Values @ Work, a network of 27 state coalitions working for paid sick and safe days, family and medical leave insurance and other policies that value families at work, released the following statement urging Congress to pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act:

“The Family Values @ Work network calls on Members of the House to take swift action to pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, prioritizing public health over partisanship. The package of proposals will assure all workers that legislators are committed to putting families first, both their health and their economic stability. This legislation addresses the central need for paid time to care and includes two policy solutions our state coalitions have been working on for years, paid sick days and paid family and medical leave. As the COVID-19 outbreak reminds us, our nation is only as healthy as its most vulnerable members. We all have a stake in ensuring every worker can take time to care for themselves and their loved ones.

“The Families First Coronavirus Response Act includes the Healthy Families Act, so all workers can earn up to 7 paid sick days every year, and also provides for an additional 14 days of paid sick time for workers affected by the COVID-19 outbreak or any future public health emergency. The bill also covers days when a child’s school is closed due to a public health emergency, when an employer is closed due to a public health emergency, or a worker or a family member is quarantined or isolated due to a public health emergency. These provisions mean workers can take the actions they need to heal and not spread the virus without jeopardizing their pay or their jobs.

These measures are crucial to protect all of us. An estimated 32.5 million people in the U.S. do not have access to a single paid sick day. Only 19 percent of workers have access to longer-term paid leave through their employers. Without immediate action, more people will be exposed to the virus, more families will lose loved ones, and more businesses will experience losses. We urgently need both paid sick days and longer-term paid leave.

We were glad to see provisions to reimburse small businesses for the costs of providing additional paid sick leave used by employees during a public health emergency. These business owners need immediate grants, not tax credits or loans.

“The bill also allocates funds to support Americans living with food insecurity, and provides additional funding to the states to ensure Unemployment Insurance programs are able to process and pay during the outbreak. The creation of the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard, which implements a comprehensive infectious disease exposure control plan to protect health care workers from exposure to COVID-19, illustrates a commitment to supporting the workers who are on the front lines of our fight against the coronavirus.

“Together, this suite of proposals is a clear, sensible approach to slowing the spread of the coronavirus. We urge the House to move quickly and the Senate to follow suit. It shouldn’t take a pandemic to remind us that our nation does best when everyone has time to heal and provide care for those they love.”

For media inquiries please contact Safiya Simmons at (414) 436-9536 or info@familyvaluesatwork.org

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