Healthy Families Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 840 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 14, 2019 Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BROWN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. COONS, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. KAINE, Mr. KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. PETERS, Mr. REED, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. SMITH, Mr. UDALL, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S840.IS S840 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 840 IS (1) Working people need time to meet their own 1 health care needs and to care for family members. 2 The absence of paid sick time has forced working 3 people to make untenable choices between needed in- 4 come and jobs on the one hand and caring for their 5 own and their family’s health on the other. It is in 6 the national interest to ensure that all working peo- 7 ple can care for their own health and the health of 8 their families while prospering at work. 9 (2) Twenty-nine percent of the private sector 10 workforce and 9 percent of the public sector work- 11 force lack paid sick time. Millions more theoretically 12 have access to sick time, but have not been on the 13 job long enough to use it. Millions more lack sick 14 time they can use to care for a sick child or ill fam- 15 ily member. 16 (3) Working people without paid sick days are 17 more likely to go to work sick and delay or forgo 18 needed health care. A 2016 study in the journal 19 Health Affairs found that working adults without 20 paid sick days are 3 times more likely to forgo med- 21 ical care for themselves, and 1.6 times more likely 22 to forgo medical care for their family, compared to 23 working adults with paid sick days. Lack of paid 24 sick days is also a barrier to receiving annual health 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S840.IS S840 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 840 IS screenings and preventive care, according to a 2017 1 study in the American Journal of Nursing. 2 (4) Nearly 1 in 4 parents without paid sick 3 time reports sending a sick child to school or child 4 care because the parent has to go to work. When 5 children go to school and child care sick, they risk 6 their own health and that of other children, teach- 7 ers, and administrators. Research suggests that 8 schools play a key role in transmitting contagious ill- 9 nesses like influenza. 10 (5) A 2012 study published in the American 11 Journal of Public Health found that a lack of work- 12 place policies like paid sick days contributed to an 13 additional 5,000,000 cases of influenza-like illness 14 during the H1N1 pandemic of 2009. 15 (6) A National Bureau of Economic Research 16 analysis examining influenza rates following the im- 17 plementation of comprehensive paid sick time laws 18 in 7 major cities in the United States found that 19 when workers gained access to paid sick time in 20 those cities, the general influenza rate in the popu- 21 lation decreased by 5.5 to 6.5 percent. This analysis 22 estimates that those laws helped prevent about 100 23 influenza-like infections per week for every 100,000 24 people. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S840.IS S840 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 840 IS (7) Paid sick days contribute to more cost-effec- 1 tive use of health care resources. A 2011 study by 2 the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found 3 that a universal paid sick days policy would reduce 4 preventable visits to the emergency room and result 5 in cost savings of $1,100,000,000 per year, includ- 6 ing $500,000,000 in savings for public health insur- 7 ance programs like Medicare and Medicaid. 8 (8) The American Productivity Audit completed 9 in 2003 found that lost productivity due to illness 10 costs $226,000,000,000 ($308,000,000,000 in 2019 11 dollars) annually, and that 71 percent of that cost 12 stems from presenteeism—the practice of employees 13 coming to work while ill. Studies in the Journal of 14 Occupational and Environmental Medicine and the 15 Journal of the American Medical Association show 16 that presenteeism is a larger productivity drain than 17 either absenteeism or short-term disability. 18 (9) Working while sick also increases a worker’s 19 probability of suffering an injury on the job. A 2012 20 study published by the American Journal of Public 21 Health found that workers with access to paid sick 22 leave were 28 percent less likely than workers with- 23 out paid sick leave to suffer nonfatal occupational 24 injuries. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S840.IS S840 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 840 IS (10) Workers’ access to paid sick time varies 1 dramatically by wage level, as demonstrated by the 2 following: 3 (A) For private sector workers— 4 (i) for workers in the lowest quartile 5 of earners, 55 percent lack paid sick time; 6 (ii) for workers in the next 2 quar- 7 tiles, 27 and 17 percent, respectively, lack 8 paid sick time; and 9 (iii) even for workers in the highest 10 quartile, 10 percent lack paid sick time. 11 (B) For public sector workers— 12 (i) for workers in the lowest quartile 13 of earners, 21 percent lack paid sick time; 14 (ii) for workers in the next 2 quar- 15 tiles, 5 and 3 percent, respectively, lack 16 paid sick time; and 17 (iii) for workers in the highest quar- 18 tile, 5 percent lack paid sick time. 19 (11) Workers’ access to paid sick days also var- 20 ies depending on their occupation and race. For ex- 21 ample, more than 80 percent of workers in food 22 preparation and serving occupations lack access to 23 paid sick days, compared to only 23 percent of work- 24 ers in management occupations. More than half of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S840.IS S840 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 840 IS Latino workers and nearly half of Native American 1 or Alaskan Native workers do not have access to 2 paid sick days, compared to nearly 40 percent of 3 White and Black workers. 4 (12) According to the Centers for Disease Con- 5 trol and Prevention, more than 1 in 3 women and 6 more than 1 in 4 men in America report having ex- 7 perienced rape, physical abuse, or some form of un- 8 wanted sexual contact at some point in their lives. 9 Women and men of color are even more likely to re- 10 port being impacted by intimate partner violence. 11 Too many people, and especially women, are forced 12 to risk losing their jobs or critical income when they 13 need to take time away from work to address domes- 14 tic-violence-related issues, such as obtaining a re- 15 straining order or finding housing, in order to avoid 16 or prevent physical or sexual abuse. 17 (13) Without paid sick time that can be used 18 to address the effects of domestic violence, these vic- 19 tims are in grave danger of losing their jobs. In a 20 2018 survey of domestic violence survivors, nearly 3⁄4 21 (73 percent) reported that financial problems forced 22 them to remain with their abusers longer than they 23 wanted or to return to their abusers after having 24 left, and more than half (53 percent) said they lost 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S840.IS S840 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 840 IS a job because of the abuse. The loss of employment 1 can be particularly devastating for victims of domes- 2 tic violence, who often need economic security to en- 3 sure safety. 4 (14) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 5 vention has estimated that intimate partner violence 6 costs over $700,000,000 annually due to the victims’ 7 lost productivity in employment. 8 (15) A 2018 study published in the American 9 Journal of Orthopsychiatry found that workers with- 10 out paid sick leave benefits have higher levels of psy- 11 chological distress and are 1.45 times more likely to 12 report that their distress symptoms interfere ‘‘a lot’’ 13 with their daily life activities. 14 (16) Efforts to assist abused employees result 15 in positive outcomes for employers as well as em- 16 ployees because employers can retain workers who 17 might otherwise be compelled to leave. 18 (17) Dozens of States, cities, and localities have 19 or will soon have paid sick time laws in place and 20 evidence shows that those laws are working well for 21 workers, businesses, and the economy. 22 (18) A 2009 study by the Center for Economic 23 and Policy Research found that, of 22 countries with 24 comparable economies, the United States was 1 of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S840.IS S840 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 840 IS only 3 countries that did not provide any paid time 1 off for workers with short-term illnesses. 2 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 3 The purposes of this Act are— 4 (1) to ensure that working people can address 5 their own health needs and the health needs of their 6 families by requiring employers to permit employees 7 to earn up to 56 hours of paid sick time including 8 paid time for family care; 9 (2) to diminish public and private health care 10 costs by enabling workers to seek early and routine 11 health care for themselves and their family members; 12 (3) to assist employees who are, or whose fam- 13 ily members are, victims of domestic violence, sexual 14 assault, or stalking, by providing the employees with 15 paid time away from work to allow the victims to re- 16 ceive treatment and to take the necessary steps to 17 ensure their protection; 18 (4) to address the historical and persistent 19 widespread pattern of employment discrimination on 20 the basis of gender by both private and public sector 21 employers; 22 (5) to accomplish the purposes described in 23 paragraphs (1) through (4) in a manner that is fea- 24 sible for employers; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S840.IS S840 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 840 IS (6) consistent with the provision of the 14th 1 Amendment to the Constitution relating to equal 2 protection of the laws, and pursuant to Congress’ 3 power to enforce that provision under section 5 of 4 that Amendment— 5 (A) to accomplish the purposes described 6 in paragraphs (1) through (4) in a manner that 7 minimizes the potential for employment dis- 8 crimination on the basis of sex by ensuring gen- 9 erally that paid sick time is available for eligible 10 medical reasons on a gender-neutral basis; and 11 (B) to promote the goal of equal employ- 12 ment opportunity for women and men. 13 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 14 In this Act: 15 (1) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means a biologi- 16 cal, foster, or adopted child, a stepchild, a child of 17 a domestic partner, a legal ward, or a child of a per- 18 son standing in loco parentis, who is— 19 (A) under 18 years of age; or 20 (B) 18 years of age or older and incapable 21 of self-care because of a mental or physical dis- 22 ability. 23 (2) DOMESTIC PARTNER.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S840.IS S840 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 840 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘domestic 1 partner’’, with respect to an individual, means 2 another individual with whom the individual is 3 in a committed relationship. 4 (B) COMMITTED RELATIONSHIP DE- 5 FINED.—The term ‘‘committed relationship’’ 6 means a relationship between 2 individuals, 7 each at least 18 years of age, in which each in- 8 dividual is the other individual’s sole domestic 9 partner and both individuals share responsi- 10 bility for a significant measure of each other’s 11 common welfare. The term includes any such 12 relationship between 2 individuals, including in- 13 dividuals of the same sex, that is granted legal 14 recognition by a State or political subdivision of 15 a State as a marriage or analogous relationship, 16 including a civil union or domestic partnership. 17 (3) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘domestic 18 violence’’ has the meaning given the term in section 19 40002(a) of the Violence Against Women Act of 20 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a)), except that the ref- 21 erence in such section to the term ‘‘jurisdiction re- 22 ceiving grant monies’’ shall be deemed to mean the 23 jurisdiction in which the victim lives or the jurisdic- 24 tion in which the employer involved is located. Such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S840.IS S840 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 840 IS term also includes dating violence, as that term is 1 defined in such section. 2 (4) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ means 3 an individual who is— 4 (A)(i) an employee, as defined in section 5 3(e) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 6 (29 U.S.C. 203(e)), who is not covered under 7 subparagraph (E), including such an employee 8 of the Library of Congress, except that a ref- 9 erence in such section to an employer shall be 10 considered to be a reference to an employer de- 11 scribed in clauses (i)(I) and (ii) of paragraph 12 (5)(A); or 13 (ii) an employee of the Government Ac- 14 countability Office; 15 (B) a State employee described in section 16 304(a) of the Government Employee Rights Act 17 of 1991 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16c(a)); 18 (C) a covered employee, as defined in sec- 19 tion 101 of the Congressional Accountability 20 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301), other than an ap- 21 plicant for employment; 22 (D) a covered employee, as defined in sec- 23 tion 411(c) of title 3, United States Code; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S840.IS S840 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PR [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]