FV@W Statement on the Biden-Harris American Rescue Plan

Tonight we join with paid leave champions and organizers across the country in thanking President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris for including paid sick leave and emergency paid leave in their American Rescue Plan. Their commitment to ensuring that those who are sick or caring for ill loved ones are able to stay home from work and still get paid is critical to reducing the spread of the coronavirus and  building solid care and economic infrastructures for our nation

Among other things, their plan will restore the requirement for paid leave and eliminate exemptions for employers with more than 500 and less than 50 employees. Closing these loopholes in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act will extend emergency paid leave to up to 106 million additional workers, including health care workers, emergency responders and federal employees.

The proposed rescue package recognizes that those with the virus are often ill longer than two weeks. It will provide over 14 weeks of paid sick and family and medical leave to help parents with additional caregiving responsibilities when a child or loved one’s school or care center is closed and for people who have or are caring for people with COVID-19 symptoms. Importantly, it will ensure paid time for people to get the vaccine.

The proposal will also make the time more affordable by providing a maximum paid leave benefit of $1,400 per-week for eligible workers. This will mean full wage replacement to workers earning up to $73,000 annually, more than three-quarters of all workers.

Recognizing the enormous crisis facing those needing and providing child care, the package includes $15 billion for child care stabilization. That comes on top of the $10 billion in the last package passed by Congress.

We commend this new administration for demonstrating empathetic leadership as the nation continues to fight this deadly pandemic. The Family Values @ Work network looks forward to working with them to realize a permanent, national paid leave program that will work for everyone, no matter where they live, where they work, or who they love.