THE CHALLENGE

Studies show that employees need to use sick leave to care for their children.

Nationally, only 1 in 3 workers can use their sick days to care for sick children.

71% of low-income workers cannot take days off to care for sick children and approximately half of middle-income workers cannot.

Parents in one study reported missing an average of 4.2 work days each year because of a sick child.

Caregiving pressures are increasing for Maryland families.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans under the age of 60 expect to be responsible for the care of an elderly relative within the next ten years.

Nearly half of all unscheduled absences from work are due to family issues such as care for ill family members, while only 28% of absences are due to personal ailments.

Workers should not have to choose between being a conscientious employee and caring for their own family’s health.

FMLA does not cover everyday health concerns.

The purpose of FMLA is to help families with ongoing, serious health conditions or special caregiving needs, such as birth or adoption.

FMLA does not assist with common issues such as picking up a feverish child from school or taking a parent who can no longer drive to a medical appointment

The workforce has changed and so must the workplace.

Seven states already have laws guaranteeing flexible leave. (California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Minnesota, Washington, and Wisconsin.)

Every state (except Louisiana and Mississippi) allows leave time to be used by its public employees to care for family members.

THE SOLUTION – Support HB 40 / SB 344

The Flexible Leave Act would allow an employee to use their already-earned sick leave to care for an ill child, parent or spouse.

The Flexible Leave Act does not create an additional benefit. It simply legalizes the common practice of allowing flexible use of sick time for family care.

THE BENEFITS

Businesses Benefit from Family-Friendly Policies

Full-time employees who also care for family members cost U.S. employers $34 billion in 2004.

Businesses that offer flexible sick leave profit from lower turnover and training costs, higher levels of productivity and customer satisfaction, and increased retention of qualified employees.

The cost of losing a worker (hiring, training, expertise) is far greater than the cost of providing short-term leave to retain existing workers.

Industry research shows that workers value family-friendly policies more than most every other workplace benefit.

For further information, contact:

Melissa Broome / Job Opportunities Task Force / (410) 234-8046 / melissa@jotf.org