Bill would guarantee paid sick leave for all US workers if passed

Surging healthcare costs

FOX 5 NY's Duarte Geraldino speaks with Nathan Gusdorf, Executive Director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, about the current cost of healthcare in the United States.

WASHINGTON - More than two dozen Senate Democrats have introduced a new bill that would guarantee paid sick leave for all American workers.

Healthy Families Act

What we know:

The bill would introduce the Healthy Families Act, which would require all employers to provide paid sick leave to all employees. 

Under the Healthy Families Act, workers would be eligible to earn up to seven paid sick days in a year. Workers would begin accruing sick time immediately, earning one hour of time off for every 30 hours worked. Workers won't be able to cash in that sick time until they've worked 60 days, however, but can then use that time for their own personal use, or to take time off to care for a family member.

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Employers that have existing paid sick time policies that exceed those requirements won't have to change their policies.

Thirty senators, including Vermont's Bernie Sanders, New York's Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer and New Jersey's Cory Booker, have sponsored the bill.

Paid sick leave ‘a fundamental right’

What they're saying:

The U.S. is the only major country in the world that does not guarantee paid sick leave, according to the bill's sponsors, which Sanders called "an international embarrassment."

"It’s not radical to ensure that every worker in America receives the paid sick days that they need," Sanders said. "What’s radical is that we have corporations in America making billions in profits, denying paid leave to working moms and dads when their kids get sick."

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

In a press release Wednesday, Gillibrand said that "no one should have to choose between a paycheck and caring for a loved one or themselves. Yet, as the cost of groceries, gas, and housing continues to skyrocket, hardworking Americans are still forced into that impossible position every day." Gillibrand called paid sick leave "a fundamental right," and that the Healthy Families Act was "a practical solution."

You can read the full bill here.