Healthy Families Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2465 To allow Americans to earn paid sick time so that they can address their own health needs and the health needs of their families. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 13, 2021 Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Mrs. AXNE, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. BASS, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BERA, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BROWN, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms. BUSH, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CARSON, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. CHU, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. COOPER, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. CROW, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DEAN, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. DELBENE, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. MI- CHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FOS- TER, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GARCI´A of Illi- nois, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. JACOBS of California, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. JONES, Mr. KAHELE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KEATING, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. LAMB, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LARSEN of Wash- ington, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. LIEU, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. MATSUI, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGOV- ERN, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MENG, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. NADLER, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. NEWMAN, Mr. NORCROSS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. OMAR, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PA- NETTA, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PORTER, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Miss RICE of New York, Ms. ROSS, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RYAN, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. SCHRIER, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2465.IH H2465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2465 IH SOTO, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. TITUS, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TONKO, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. TORRES of New York, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. TRONE, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. WATERS, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. WELCH, Ms. WEXTON, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. YARMUTH, and Ms. SHERRILL) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu- cation and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on House Adminis- tration, and Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To allow Americans to earn paid sick time so that they can address their own health needs and the health needs of their families. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Healthy Families Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 Congress makes the following findings: 6 (1) Working people need time to meet their own 7 health care needs and to care for family members. 8 The absence of paid sick time has forced working 9 people to make untenable choices between needed in- 10 come and jobs on the one hand and caring for their 11 own and their family’s health on the other. It is in 12 the national interest to ensure that all working peo- 13 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2465.IH H2465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2465 IH ple can care for their own health and the health of 1 their families while prospering at work. 2 (2) Twenty-nine percent of the private sector 3 workforce and 9 percent of the public sector work- 4 force lack paid sick time. Millions more theoretically 5 have access to sick time, but have not been on the 6 job long enough to use it. Millions more lack sick 7 time they can use to care for a sick child or ill fam- 8 ily member. 9 (3) Working people without paid sick days are 10 more likely to go to work sick and delay or forgo 11 needed health care. A 2016 study in the journal 12 Health Affairs found that working adults without 13 paid sick days are 3 times more likely to forgo med- 14 ical care for themselves, and 1.6 times more likely 15 to forgo medical care for their family, compared to 16 working adults with paid sick days. Lack of paid 17 sick days is also a barrier to receiving annual health 18 screenings and preventive care, according to a 2017 19 study in the American Journal of Nursing. 20 (4) Nearly 1 in 4 parents without paid sick 21 time reports sending a sick child to school or child 22 care because the parent has to go to work. When 23 children go to school and child care sick, they risk 24 their own health and that of other children, teach- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2465.IH H2465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2465 IH ers, and administrators. Research suggests that 1 schools play a key role in transmitting contagious ill- 2 nesses like influenza. 3 (5) A 2012 study published in the American 4 Journal of Public Health found that a lack of work- 5 place policies like paid sick days contributed to an 6 additional 5,000,000 cases of influenza-like illness 7 during the H1N1 pandemic of 2009. 8 (6) A National Bureau of Economic Research 9 analysis examining influenza rates following the im- 10 plementation of comprehensive paid sick time laws 11 in 7 major cities in the United States found that 12 when workers gained access to paid sick time in 13 those cities, the general influenza rate in the popu- 14 lation decreased by 5.5 to 6.5 percent. This analysis 15 estimates that those laws helped prevent about 100 16 influenza-like infections per week for every 100,000 17 people. 18 (7) Paid sick days contribute to more cost-effec- 19 tive use of health care resources. A 2011 study by 20 the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found 21 that a universal paid sick days policy would reduce 22 preventable visits to the emergency room and result 23 in cost savings of $1,100,000,000 per year, includ- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2465.IH H2465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2465 IH ing $500,000,000 in savings for public health insur- 1 ance programs like Medicare and Medicaid. 2 (8) The American Productivity Audit completed 3 in 2003 found that lost productivity due to illness 4 costs $226,000,000,000 ($308,000,000,000 in 2019 5 dollars) annually, and that 71 percent of that cost 6 stems from presenteeism—the practice of employees 7 coming to work while ill. Studies in the Journal of 8 Occupational and Environmental Medicine and the 9 Journal of the American Medical Association show 10 that presenteeism is a larger productivity drain than 11 either absenteeism or short-term disability. 12 (9) Working while sick also increases a worker’s 13 probability of suffering an injury on the job. A 2012 14 study published by the American Journal of Public 15 Health found that workers with access to paid sick 16 leave were 28 percent less likely than workers with- 17 out paid sick leave to suffer nonfatal occupational 18 injuries. 19 (10) Workers’ access to paid sick time varies 20 dramatically by wage level, as demonstrated by the 21 following: 22 (A) For private sector workers— 23 (i) for workers in the lowest quartile 24 of earners, 55 percent lack paid sick time; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2465.IH H2465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2465 IH (ii) for workers in the next 2 quar- 1 tiles, 27 and 17 percent, respectively, lack 2 paid sick time; and 3 (iii) even for workers in the highest 4 quartile, 10 percent lack paid sick time. 5 (B) For public sector workers— 6 (i) for workers in the lowest quartile 7 of earners, 21 percent lack paid sick time; 8 (ii) for workers in the next 2 quar- 9 tiles, 5 and 3 percent, respectively, lack 10 paid sick time; and 11 (iii) for workers in the highest quar- 12 tile, 5 percent lack paid sick time. 13 (11) Workers’ access to paid sick days also var- 14 ies depending on their occupation and race. For ex- 15 ample, more than 80 percent of workers in food 16 preparation and serving occupations lack access to 17 paid sick days, compared to only 23 percent of work- 18 ers in management occupations. More than half of 19 Latino workers and nearly half of Native American 20 or Alaskan Native workers do not have access to 21 paid sick days, compared to nearly 40 percent of 22 White and Black workers. 23 (12) According to the Centers for Disease Con- 24 trol and Prevention, more than 1 in 3 women and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2465.IH H2465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2465 IH more than 1 in 4 men in the United States report 1 having experienced rape, physical abuse, or some 2 form of unwanted sexual contact at some point in 3 their lives. Women and men of color are even more 4 likely to report being impacted by intimate partner 5 violence. Too many people, and especially women, 6 are forced to risk losing their jobs or critical income 7 when they need to take time away from work to ad- 8 dress domestic-violence-related issues, such as ob- 9 taining a restraining order or finding housing, in 10 order to avoid or prevent physical or sexual abuse. 11 (13) Without paid sick time that can be used 12 to address the effects of domestic violence, these vic- 13 tims are in grave danger of losing their jobs. In a 14 2018 survey of domestic violence survivors, nearly 3⁄4 15 (73 percent) reported that financial problems forced 16 them to remain with their abusers longer than they 17 wanted or to return to their abusers after having 18 left, and more than half (53 percent) said they lost 19 a job because of the abuse. The loss of employment 20 can be particularly devastating for victims of domes- 21 tic violence, who often need economic security to en- 22 sure safety. 23 (14) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 24 vention has estimated that intimate partner violence 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2465.IH H2465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2465 IH costs over $700,000,000 annually due to the victims’ 1 lost productivity in employment. 2 (15) A 2018 study published in the American 3 Journal of Orthopsychiatry found that workers with- 4 out paid sick leave benefits have higher levels of psy- 5 chological distress and are 1.45 times more likely to 6 report that their distress symptoms interfere ‘‘a lot’’ 7 with their daily life activities. 8 (16) Efforts to assist abused employees result 9 in positive outcomes for employers as well as em- 10 ployees because employers can retain workers who 11 might otherwise be compelled to leave. 12 (17) Dozens of States, cities, and localities have 13 or will soon have paid sick time laws in place and 14 evidence shows that those laws are working well for 15 workers, businesses, and the economy. 16 (18) A 2009 study by the Center for Economic 17 and Policy Research found that, of 22 countries with 18 comparable economies, the United States was 1 of 19 only 3 countries that did not provide any paid time 20 off for workers with short-term illnesses. 21 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 22 The purposes of this Act are— 23 (1) to ensure that working people can address 24 their own health needs and the health needs of their 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2465.IH H2465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2465 IH families by requiring employers to permit employees 1 to earn up to 56 hours of paid sick time including 2 paid time for family care; 3 (2) to diminish public and private health care 4 costs by enabling workers to seek early and routine 5 health care for themselves and their family members; 6 (3) to assist employees who are, or whose fam- 7 ily members are, victims of domestic violence, sexual 8 assault, or stalking, by providing the employees with 9 paid time away from work to allow the victims to re- 10 ceive treatment and to take the necessary steps to 11 ensure their protection; 12 (4) to address the historical and persistent 13 widespread pattern of employment discrimination on 14 the basis of gender by both private and public sector 15 employers; 16 (5) to accomplish the purposes described in 17 paragraphs (1) through (4) in a manner that is fea- 18 sible for employers; and 19 (6) consistent with the provision of the 14th 20 Amendment to the Constitution relating to equal 21 protection of the laws, and pursuant to Congress’ 22 power to enforce that provision under section 5 of 23 that Amendment— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2465.IH H2465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2465 IH (A) to accomplish the purposes described 1 in paragraphs (1) through (4) in a manner that 2 minimizes the potential for employment dis- 3 crimination on the basis of sex by ensuring gen- 4 erally that paid sick time is available for eligible 5 medical reasons on a gender-neutral basis; and 6 (B) to promote the goal of equal employ- 7 ment opportunity for women and men. 8 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 9 In this Act: 10 (1) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means a biologi- 11 cal, foster, or adopted child, a stepchild, a child of 12 a domestic partner, a legal ward, or a child of a per- 13 son standing in loco parentis, who is— 14 (A) under 18 years of age; or 15 (B) 18 years of age or older and incapable 16 of self-care because of a mental or physical dis- 17 ability. 18 (2) DOMESTIC PARTNER.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘domestic 20 partner’’, with respect to an individual, means 21 another individual with whom the individual is 22 in a committed relationship. 23 (B) COMMITTED RELATIONSHIP DE- 24 FINED.—The term ‘‘committed relationship’’ 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]