Family Values @ Work Applauds President Obama for Executive Order

Family Values @ Work Applauds President Obama for Executive Order Requiring Paid Sick Days for Employees of Federal Contractors

In response to the announcement of President Obama’s executive order guaranteeing paid sick days for employees of all federal contractors, Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values @ Work and one of the nation’s leading experts on paid sick days and paid family leave policies, released the following statement:

“Family Values @ Work applauds President Obama for taking this bold step to ensure employees of federal contractors can earn at least seven paid sick days per year. This will affect thousands of people who are currently forced to choose between putting food on the table and caring for themselves or their loved ones. We especially commend the President for announcing this move on Labor Day and paying tribute to working people in our country, many of whom continue to face falling wages and a lack of access to paid sick days.

“This concrete action by President Obama will help set an example for the rest of the country. Such a move is precisely the government’s role: to create model standards for the rest of the country to follow and to make sure taxpayer dollars are used wisely. We also applaud the President’s call on Congress to pass the Healthy Families Act to create a national standard of paid sick days and to look at solutions for paid family leave such as the family and medical insurance fund proposed in the FAMILY Act.

“There is a growing body of evidence from existing paid sick days laws—which have now passed in four states and 21 cities nationwide—that shows such laws help working people maintain a living income and stable employment, ultimately boosting the health and well-being of American families and the nation. Guaranteeing affordable and accessible paid sick days for all Americans—including time to recover from routine illnesses and receive preventative care—is way past due.”

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Family Values @ Work is a network of coalitions in 21 states working to pass policies that value families at work such as paid sick days and affordable family leave.

CONTACT: Leslie Patterson, leslie@berlinrosen.com, 561-801-5963