Posted on 01/15/2015 5:31:44 AM PST by EBH
Anyone who has ever faced the challenge of raising or supporting a family, while holding down a job, has faced tough choices along the way, and likely felt stretched between the financial and personal needs of their family.
How many working parents know that sinking feeling from sending their child off to school with a fever? How many Americans have to show up to work when battling an illness even when they know they won’t be at their best, it will lengthen their recovery time, and they may likely spread their sickness to others? And how many moms and dads have been denied the ability to bond with their newborn, or to care for an aging parent, all because they could not afford to miss work? These are real, significant moments in life that nearly everyone faces at some point. The last thing we should do is add guilt, fear, and financial hardship on working parents as they try to do what’s right – while keeping their job.
Tomorrow, President Obama will announce several initiatives that will spur action and move us toward our goal of fully supporting and empowering working parents in both their roles as workers and parents.
We know that states and cities are leading the way in this fight to pass laws to protect their workers. We’ll work to support these states and cities in their efforts to bring paid leave and sick days to all working families, and the President is continuing his push to bring similar flexibility to federal workers.
So on Thursday, President Obama will call on Congress to pass the Healthy Families Act, which would allow millions of working Americans to earn up to seven days a year of paid sick time — and call on states and cities to pass similar laws. The President will outline a new plan to help states create paid leave programs, and provide new funding through the Department of Labor for feasibility studies that will help other states and municipalities figure out the best way to implement programs of their own. And the President will sign a Presidential Memorandum that will ensure federal employees have access to at least 6 weeks of paid sick leave when a new child arrives and propose that Congress offer 6 weeks of paid administrative leave as well.
These steps build on the progress made when, this past June, President Obama convened the first-ever White House Summit on Working Families, bringing together business leaders, educators, researchers, advocates, members of Congress, state and local government representatives, and American workers to have a real, honest discussion about how we can make our workplaces work better for American families. But the conversation we had that day was only the beginning. It has carried on in the months since then around the country and the President has continued to take action to make progress for families.
We know that today, 43 million private sector workers in the U.S. are without any form of paid sick leave. Only three states — California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island — offer paid family and medical leave. The United States remains the only developed country in the world that does not offer paid maternity leave.
The truth is, the success and productivity of our workers is inextricably tied to their ability to care for their families and maintain a stable life at home. More and more employers are coming to understand this. And voters get it too—from Massachusetts to Oakland, they have been showing their overwhelming bipartisan support for policies allowing workers to earn paid sick days.
At a time when all parents are working in more than 60 percent of households with children (up from just 40 percent in 1965), and 63 percent of women with children under the age of 5 participate in the labor force (compared with 31 percent in the early 1970s), one fact is resoundingly clear: The fundamental structure of our workplaces has simply not kept pace with the changing American family.
Fixing that won't just make life better for millions of American families. It will ultimately improve the financial bottom lines of the companies that choose to step up and make a change on their own – which is precisely why this news is breaking first on LinkedIn.
This is the world's largest online audience of professionals. And if you're an employer, the folks who are coming to your company's pages will be looking to see if you offer precisely these sorts of policies on your books. These are the policies that will attract the best new talent. They are the policies that will make the employees you hire more productive — and encourage them to stay longer. Keep in mind that nearly one in two working parents has turned down a job because it would not work for their family. Don’t let your job be one of those.
This is the very first place we're breaking this news because you're in the best position to drive change.
The President and his Administration have engaged workers and employers around the country in roundtable conversations about how to build 21st century workplaces that meet the needs of the 21st century workforce. And the President has received thousands of letters from people around the country sharing why these issues are so personal for them.
He heard not long ago from a mother of two in Maryland. She was working full-time while raising a family, which she said felt too often like “a no-win situation." She told us that she hopes that when her daughters are grown, "times will be different and flexibility will be the standard so that they don't have to choose between caring for their sick child or dying parent, and their job."
Let’s make that happen now.
Because we can't say we stand for family values when so many women in this country have to jeopardize their financial security just to take a few weeks off of work after giving birth.
We can't say we're for middle-class stability when a man has to sacrifice his economic security to care for his ailing mother.
If you’re an employer, ask yourself what you’re doing for your workers on paid sick days and paid leave. If you’re looking for a job, ask yourself what you want out of your employer.
The President intends to ensure that the federal government is a model employer. We'll have the most-skilled and productive workforce possible as a result.
Why does she have to sound off on this? Isn’t it enough she’s directing drone strikes and controlling foreign policy with such distinction?
“The United States remains the only developed country in the world that does not...”
You fill in the blank of any feature of socialized nations. The liberal progressive pundits WAY over use this one.
The Israelites, when governed by God and his judges wanted to have a king, just like the other countries in the developed world. God thought poorly of them to take this attitude, but gave them their wish, and even told them how bad it would get.
I never had trouble with co-workers abusing sick leave. I did once have a problem with a coke-sniffing co-worker and that was pure hell. Back in the day before maternity leave, one of the companies I worked for would have mommy bring in her kids and make secretaries babysit them. How I longed for those selfish broads to take maternity leave!
Like I mentioned before, these people are insufferable.
So I am not sure why you mentioned "No..." in your reply. Using it as a battering ram in the 2016s is possible for sure. This is just another blowing-smoke-up-the-voters-ass attempt to make Republicans look like the enemy, like their War on Women. But I think many voters, including many Democrats who have to have jobs to pay their own bills, will see through this red-herring and realize that there is only so much the government can giveaway.
All other kinds of paid leave don't have the same broad benefit for everyone involved.
What ever happened to stay-at-home moms? But let me take you back to yesteryear and tell you how bad things used to be:
I was raised in a two parent family with biological parents of both sexes who were married (for forty years) in the eyes of G_D. Dad made the living (we called him the bread winner) and mom (we called her a house wife) stayed home and kept the home fire burning. These strange relationships existed throughout the land. We didn’t know there were other more progressive (same-sex) arrangements to be had.
We survived and saved on what dad made. We were nurtured by mom or as we liked to call her “mama”. We had a dog and an occasional stray cat for pets. We (all of us) called this arrangement - a family. We were happy to have a roof over our head, clothes to wear, and food on the table at dinner time. We didn’t know how bad we had it back then - barely getting by and all on dad’s meagre income and mama’s egg money.
When we were sick. Dad had to go to work with a fever cause you didn’t get paid unless you showed up for work. Mom had to get out of bed and cook and feed us with a fever. And sometimes she made us walk (no urban busses back then) five miles barefooted in the snow to school with a fever. And when we got home from school she made us mow the lawn and rake the leaves. Oh the horrors! We didn’t know how abusive she was and we didn’t have any school counsellors to whom we could report her abuse. We didn’t know we had “rights” back then. We just knew we had to negotiate any issues (we used to called them problems) with mom before dad got home from work.
Life was hard for my generation growing up under such an antiquated family structure and having two abusive parents. That was before our government recognized a need to intervene for the “little children”. Parents and kids of today have it so much better thanks to “big brother” and the “it takes a village” attitude of today. Wow Walley! Two dads or moms are really neat!
Now, after fifty years of social re-engineering and re-ordering of marriage and family, we have this great dilemma facing us. That slave driver employer of dad or mom isn’t willing to pay up because you need someone to watch you stay home and play video games with a fever.
I will write my representative and demand they form a committee to look into this issue. In the meantime, hold that thought, or move your a$$ out of bed and get to school. The school nurse will know what to do. If you are covered by ObamaCare - no worries - right? And don’t forget Moochelle has a very nutritious lunch waiting for you.
And in the spirit of W.C. Fields I must add: If you’re really, really, sick maybe you’ll get a trip to Disney World. Yes, I am so happy the kids and parents of today don’t have to face the hardships and abuse we did back then.
/SARC
Sadly, it is required to get a job nowadays.
None of the comments I saw this morning were “kind.”
This creepy scab of a human makes the hair on my neck raise just thinking it lives on he same planet as me. She is evil in mind body and soul. Please keep her away from us all.
“I just spent 20 minutes trying to figure out how NOT To get LinkedIn Pulse messages.”
There is an “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of the email, which I used today after receiving the Valerie Jarret missive.
We have a very generous leave setup where I work. A ridiculous amount of vacation time, and you earn 7 hours of sick leave every month.
I have only ever called in sick when I am, but we have several co-workers who use up ALL their sick leave every year. I’ve tried to explain why that’s a bad idea (but we’ll lose it if we don’t use it), but my recent surgery drove my point home.
I expected to be back to work within 3 weeks. I was off for nearly 3 MONTHS, as recovery was slower than normal.
I STILL have over 3 months of leave left on the books.
I showed the “chronically unwell” my leave allotment, and explained why I keep a big bank.
It takes 6 MONTHS for long term disability to kick in where I work. One could get into serious financial trouble without a cushion of some sort. I’m lucky I have one, and I do everything I can to protect it from idiots who abuse it.
And it will only encourage more offshoring of jobs.
Thanks. I used it. To bad they don’t ask why.
I’m touched that a notorious Chicago slum lord is concerned for the little people.
If she’s giving speeches in 2015, can her “Let’s All Love Me” book and presidential campaign be far behind?
Sorry, but I will beg to differ. The problem, as often as it is is: gov’t.
It wasn’t mid-way through the prior century when ONE working person could: raise a family, buy a home, buy a TV, buy a car, go on vacation, retire, etc.
Even whittling the necessities down to bare bones, one would be HARD pressed to do the same today for all the taxes, fees, permits, regulations (aka GOV’T)
I probably shouldn’t post this because it will give socialists more ideas, but why don’t we:
- make it a law that all employers hire based on their revenue, and the number could be adjusted every year to make sure we had full employment. Afterall, isn’t everyone entitled to a job?
- require all auto manufacturers to price an auto based on the buyer’s income - that way everyone could have a new car, say, every three years. That way, everyone could have the car they want without having to worry about whether or not they could afford it. Afterall, isn’t everyone entitled to the new car they want?
- require home builders and mortgage companies to price a home based on the buyer’s income - that way everyone could have the house they want and not be worried about whether or not they could afford it. Afterall, isn’t everyone entitled to the home they want?
- give everyone a free TV, cell phone, computer, and iPad. That way, everyone would have these essential parts of life without having to worry about whether or not they could afford them. Afterall, isn’t everyone entitled?
My point is: where do the giveaways stop??? The answer, according to the libs is obvious - when the taxpayers have no more money.
Most LinkedIn content is supplied by its members, and much of that is professional, not political. I post on LinkedIn regularly, both with original content and with shared materials from other sources. NONE of that pushes the leftist (Atheist-”Gay” Empire) agenda.
However, the owners of the site—as with Google, Facebook, etc.—are minor leaders in the Atheist-”Gay” Empire, so they push the Empire’s agenda. Phooey!!!!
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