TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF HB 40:

Flexible Leave Act

TO: Hon. Dereck E. Davis, Chair, and members of the House Economic Matters Committee

FROM: Jason Perkins-Cohen, Executive Director

DATE: February 14, 2008

The Job Opportunities Task Force (JOTF) is an independent, nonprofit organization that develops and advocates policies and programs to increase the skills, job opportunities, and incomes of low-skill, low-wage workers and job seekers in Maryland. We strongly support HB 40. Workers should not have to choose between their job and their family.

Caregiving pressures are increasing dramatically for Maryland’s working families. Nationally, of workers who receive paid sick leave, only one in three can use their days to care for ill children or elderly parents. 71% of low-income workers cannot take a day off to care for a sick child and approximately half of middle-income workers cannot either. Based on responses from a national survey of women and men, nearly two-thirds of Americans under age 60 expect to be responsible for the care of an elderly relative within the next ten years.

Low-wage workers are at greatest risk because they cannot afford to take unpaid leave or to buy their way out of problems through costly daycare arrangements. They are regularly asked to make impossible choices. Staying home with a sick child can mean risking job loss; yet leaving an ill child home alone is something no parent wants to do.

The 1993 FMLA is the only federal legislation that has been passed with respect to work-family needs, but it does not cover everyday health concerns such as picking up a feverish child from school or taking a parent who can no longer drive to a doctor’s appointment. Its purpose is strictly to help families with ongoing, serious health conditions or special caregiving needs, such as birth or adoption. Workers must apply to use FMLA and, if approved, are granted unpaid leave.

Businesses, in fact, have much to gain from family-friendly policies. According to the Metropolitan Washington Work/Life Coalition, businesses that offer flexible sick leave profit from enhanced recruitment efforts, increased retention, and improved community relations.

HB 40 would help employees manage work and family needs by enabling workers with already accrued leave to use their days not only if they themselves get sick, but also if their child, parent or spouse becomes ill. HB 40 does not create an additional benefit. It simply legalizes the common practice of allowing flexible use of leave time for family care. We respectfully urge a favorable report.