Wood Words

The Healthy Families Act: Should Your Middle TN Employees Get Paid Family Leave?

The-Healthy-Families-Act--Should-Your-Employees-Get-Paid-Family-Leave

 

Injuries sometimes require surgery and rehabilitation.

Families have babies.

Aging parents get sick.

Employees need time off from work.

But not every employer offers paid time off. The vast majority (99%) of companies employing 50+ individuals currently have some form of vacation/PTO/sick leave policy, but less than one-third of all employers offer a formal PTO system to part-time employees.

Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, many workers may take up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off without losing their job. They may use the time to recover from a serious illness or surgery, care for a new child, or care for an ill family member. For too many of those workers, however, an unpaid leave is simply unaffordable.

This forces many individuals to make a tough choice:

Go to work (ignoring their own or their family members’ needs), or take time off, losing much-needed income.

Research shows that offering paid sick days and paid family leave benefits employers:

  • lowering turnover
  • increasing productivity
  • improving employee morale
  • reducing the spread of illness (such as influenza) in the workplace

And obviously, being able to take paid time off from work benefits employees, too – improving health, shortening recovery time and increasing work/life satisfaction.

For these and other reasons, the President introduced the Healthy Families Act in Congress. If the bill passes in its current form it would:

  • Allow Americans to earn paid sick time so that they can address their own health needs and the health needs of their families.
  • Require employers to allow employees to earn up to 56 hours of paid sick time (including paid time for family care.
  • Assist employees (or family members) who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking – by providing employees paid time off, so that victims can receive treatments and ensure their protection.
  • Address patterns of gender-related employment discrimination, by ensuring generally that paid sick time is available for eligible medical reasons on a gender-neutral basis.

Need to cover employee absences?

As a leading Lebanon employment agency, Wood Personnel’s is here to provide the staffing support your organization requires. When your employees need time away from work, bring in our temporary employees to maintain productivity – and keep your business humming.

 

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email