March 18, 2020—The Communications Workers of America is urging the House and Senate to immediately pass a bill to provide all workers with paid sick days and paid family and medical leave, in response to the current coronavirus crisis, and to have these benefits in place for workers and families to deal with future crises and life events.
The bill was introduced this week by Senator Murray, Senator Gillibrand, and Rep. DeLauro. The act would require the federal government to cover the cost of 7-days of accrued paid sick leave, 14 paid emergency sick days, and 12-weeks of paid emergency leave until January 2022.
It would require all employers to provide a separate amount of 14 days of paid sick leave at 100 percent of wages that is immediately available at the beginning of any public health emergency (including in the current crisis upon passage of the bill). Under the bill, a qualifying Public Health Emergency could be declared at the federal level or the state or local level and still trigger the additional 14 paid sick days.
Find out more information on the act here.
