Rep. Stratton Fights to Provide Working Families with Paid Sick Leave
CHICAGO, IL – Illinois State Rep. Juliana Stratton, D-Chicago, is fighting for the health and financial stability of working families by backing legislation to ensure employers offer paid sick leave to all their workers, a benefit that would help lift up workers who live paycheck to paycheck and also must take care of loved ones.
“Workers deserve the peace of mind to know that they won’t be fired if they need to stay home due to an illness, to care for a sick kid or visit the doctor,” Stratton said. “All workers deserve paid sick time, but many go without it, especially those who work paycheck to paycheck.”
The Stratton-sponsored Healthy Workplace Act, House Bill 2771, would allow workers to use five paid sick days every year, during which employees would receive their normal pay. Employees are eligible to use sick days for a number of common emergencies that often require workers to miss work with little notice, such as having to take a loved one to a doctor’s appointment, or caring for a child whose school closed for the day. Current law does not provide paid sick days for all employees, which hurts working families the most, especially single parents.
“Corporations making billions in profits every year benefit from a healthy workforce,” Stratton continued. “This is a matter of putting people over profits.”
The Healthy Workplace Act awaits further action in the House.
