Healthy Families Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1784 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 MARCH 14, 2019 Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. HECK, Mr. KHANNA, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. MOORE, Mr. PETERS, Mr. SABLAN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. FRANKEL, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. OMAR, Mr. LAN- GEVIN, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Ms. WEXTON, Mr. COOPER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. DEAN, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. NADLER, Mr. TONKO, Ms. GABBARD, Ms. NORTON, Ms. WILD, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. ESHOO, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. TAKANO, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SOTO, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. BERA, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mr. KILMER, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. NORCROSS, Mr. RUIZ, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KEATING, Ms. TITUS, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. RUSH, Mr. AGUILAR, Mrs. CRAIG, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. MENG, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. LUJA´N, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. RYAN, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. BEYER, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. CLAY, Mrs. MURPHY, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Ms. WATERS, Ms. DELBENE, and Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1784 IH House Administration, and Oversight and Reform, for a period to be sub- sequently determined 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 ple can care for their own health and the health of 14 their families while prospering at work. 15 (2) Twenty-nine percent of the private sector 16 workforce and 9 percent of the public sector work- 17 force lack paid sick time. Millions more theoretically 18 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1784 IH have access to sick time, but have not been on the 1 job long enough to use it. Millions more lack sick 2 time they can use to care for a sick child or ill fam- 3 ily member. 4 (3) Working people without paid sick days are 5 more likely to go to work sick and delay or forgo 6 needed health care. A 2016 study in the journal 7 Health Affairs found that working adults without 8 paid sick days are 3 times more likely to forgo med- 9 ical care for themselves, and 1.6 times more likely 10 to forgo medical care for their family, compared to 11 working adults with paid sick days. Lack of paid 12 sick days is also a barrier to receiving annual health 13 screenings and preventive care, according to a 2017 14 study in the American Journal of Nursing. 15 (4) Nearly 1 in 4 parents without paid sick 16 time reports sending a sick child to school or child 17 care because the parent has to go to work. When 18 children go to school and child care sick, they risk 19 their own health and that of other children, teach- 20 ers, and administrators. Research suggests that 21 schools play a key role in transmitting contagious ill- 22 nesses like influenza. 23 (5) A 2012 study published in the American 24 Journal of Public Health found that a lack of work- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1784 IH place policies like paid sick days contributed to an 1 additional 5,000,000 cases of influenza-like illness 2 during the H1N1 pandemic of 2009. 3 (6) A National Bureau of Economic Research 4 analysis examining influenza rates following the im- 5 plementation of comprehensive paid sick time laws 6 in 7 major cities in the United States found that 7 when workers gained access to paid sick time in 8 those cities, the general influenza rate in the popu- 9 lation decreased by 5.5 to 6.5 percent. This analysis 10 estimates that those laws helped prevent about 100 11 influenza-like infections per week for every 100,000 12 people. 13 (7) Paid sick days contribute to more cost-effec- 14 tive use of health care resources. A 2011 study by 15 the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found 16 that a universal paid sick days policy would reduce 17 preventable visits to the emergency room and result 18 in cost savings of $1,100,000,000 per year, includ- 19 ing $500,000,000 in savings for public health insur- 20 ance programs like Medicare and Medicaid. 21 (8) The American Productivity Audit completed 22 in 2003 found that lost productivity due to illness 23 costs $226,000,000,000 ($308,000,000,000 in 2019 24 dollars) annually, and that 71 percent of that cost 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1784 IH stems from presenteeism—the practice of employees 1 coming to work while ill. Studies in the Journal of 2 Occupational and Environmental Medicine and the 3 Journal of the American Medical Association show 4 that presenteeism is a larger productivity drain than 5 either absenteeism or short-term disability. 6 (9) Working while sick also increases a worker’s 7 probability of suffering an injury on the job. A 2012 8 study published by the American Journal of Public 9 Health found that workers with access to paid sick 10 leave were 28 percent less likely than workers with- 11 out paid sick leave to suffer nonfatal occupational 12 injuries. 13 (10) Workers’ access to paid sick time varies 14 dramatically by wage level, as demonstrated by the 15 following: 16 (A) For private sector workers— 17 (i) for workers in the lowest quartile 18 of earners, 55 percent lack paid sick time; 19 (ii) for workers in the next 2 quar- 20 tiles, 27 and 17 percent, respectively, lack 21 paid sick time; and 22 (iii) even for workers in the highest 23 quartile, 10 percent lack paid sick time. 24 (B) For public sector workers— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1784 IH (i) for workers in the lowest quartile 1 of earners, 21 percent lack paid sick time; 2 (ii) for workers in the next 2 quar- 3 tiles, 5 and 3 percent, respectively, lack 4 paid sick time; and 5 (iii) for workers in the highest quar- 6 tile, 5 percent lack paid sick time. 7 (11) Workers’ access to paid sick days also var- 8 ies depending on their occupation and race. For ex- 9 ample, more than 80 percent of workers in food 10 preparation and serving occupations lack access to 11 paid sick days, compared to only 23 percent of work- 12 ers in management occupations. More than half of 13 Latino workers and nearly half of Native American 14 or Alaskan Native workers do not have access to 15 paid sick days, compared to nearly 40 percent of 16 White and Black workers. 17 (12) According to the Centers for Disease Con- 18 trol and Prevention, more than 1 in 3 women and 19 more than 1 in 4 men in America report having ex- 20 perienced rape, physical abuse, or some form of un- 21 wanted sexual contact at some point in their lives. 22 Women and men of color are even more likely to re- 23 port being impacted by intimate partner violence. 24 Too many people, and especially women, are forced 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 1784 IH to risk losing their jobs or critical income when they 1 need to take time away from work to address domes- 2 tic-violence-related issues, such as obtaining a re- 3 straining order or finding housing, in order to avoid 4 or prevent physical or sexual abuse. 5 (13) Without paid sick time that can be used 6 to address the effects of domestic violence, these vic- 7 tims are in grave danger of losing their jobs. In a 8 2018 survey of domestic violence survivors, nearly 3⁄4 9 (73 percent) reported that financial problems forced 10 them to remain with their abusers longer than they 11 wanted or to return to their abusers after having 12 left, and more than half (53 percent) said they lost 13 a job because of the abuse. The loss of employment 14 can be particularly devastating for victims of domes- 15 tic violence, who often need economic security to en- 16 sure safety. 17 (14) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 18 vention has estimated that intimate partner violence 19 costs over $700,000,000 annually due to the victims’ 20 lost productivity in employment. 21 (15) A 2018 study published in the American 22 Journal of Orthopsychiatry found that workers with- 23 out paid sick leave benefits have higher levels of psy- 24 chological distress and are 1.45 times more likely to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 1784 IH report that their distress symptoms interfere ‘‘a lot’’ 1 with their daily life activities. 2 (16) Efforts to assist abused employees result 3 in positive outcomes for employers as well as em- 4 ployees because employers can retain workers who 5 might otherwise be compelled to leave. 6 (17) Dozens of States, cities, and localities have 7 or will soon have paid sick time laws in place and 8 evidence shows that those laws are working well for 9 workers, businesses, and the economy. 10 (18) A 2009 study by the Center for Economic 11 and Policy Research found that, of 22 countries with 12 comparable economies, the United States was 1 of 13 only 3 countries that did not provide any paid time 14 off for workers with short-term illnesses. 15 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 16 The purposes of this Act are— 17 (1) to ensure that working people can address 18 their own health needs and the health needs of their 19 families by requiring employers to permit employees 20 to earn up to 56 hours of paid sick time including 21 paid time for family care; 22 (2) to diminish public and private health care 23 costs by enabling workers to seek early and routine 24 health care for themselves and their family members; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 1784 IH (3) to assist employees who are, or whose fam- 1 ily members are, victims of domestic violence, sexual 2 assault, or stalking, by providing the employees with 3 paid time away from work to allow the victims to re- 4 ceive treatment and to take the necessary steps to 5 ensure their protection; 6 (4) to address the historical and persistent 7 widespread pattern of employment discrimination on 8 the basis of gender by both private and public sector 9 employers; 10 (5) to accomplish the purposes described in 11 paragraphs (1) through (4) in a manner that is fea- 12 sible for employers; and 13 (6) consistent with the provision of the 14th 14 Amendment to the Constitution relating to equal 15 protection of the laws, and pursuant to Congress’ 16 power to enforce that provision under section 5 of 17 that Amendment— 18 (A) to accomplish the purposes described 19 in paragraphs (1) through (4) in a manner that 20 minimizes the potential for employment dis- 21 crimination on the basis of sex by ensuring gen- 22 erally that paid sick time is available for eligible 23 medical reasons on a gender-neutral basis; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 1784 IH (B) to promote the goal of equal employ- 1 ment opportunity for women and men. 2 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 3 In this Act: 4 (1) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means a biologi- 5 cal, foster, or adopted child, a stepchild, a child of 6 a domestic partner, a legal ward, or a child of a per- 7 son standing in loco parentis, who is— 8 (A) under 18 years of age; or 9 (B) 18 years of age or older and incapable 10 of self-care because of a mental or physical dis- 11 ability. 12 (2) DOMESTIC PARTNER.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘domestic 14 partner’’, with respect to an individual, means 15 another individual with whom the individual is 16 in a committed relationship. 17 (B) COMMITTED RELATIONSHIP DE- 18 FINED.—The term ‘‘committed relationship’’ 19 means a relationship between 2 individuals, 20 each at least 18 years of age, in which each in- 21 dividual is the other individual’s sole domestic 22 partner and both individuals share responsi- 23 bility for a significant measure of each other’s 24 common welfare. The term includes any such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 1784 IH relationship between 2 individuals, including in- 1 dividuals of the same sex, that is granted legal 2 recognition by a S [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]