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Supporting Paid Leave

Blueprint of Public Policy Priorities for the 119th Congress, 2025-2026

Decorative Blue Bar

Priority:

  • Support employees who care for family members or have health conditions of their own

Legislation:

  • The Job Protection Act, the Caring for All Families Act, FAMILY Act, and the Healthy Families Act

Goal:

  • Strengthen and expand protections available under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and allow Americans to earn paid sick time so that they can address their own health needs and the health needs of their families

Background:

This year marks the 32nd anniversary of the FMLA, which gave many Americans guaranteed and job-protected leave to care for themselves or a family member with a medical condition. Yet, many people do not have access to leave under FMLA because their employers are exempt, they haven’t worked sufficient hours to qualify, or they are self-employed. For those who can access leave under FMLA, compensation for this leave is not required. Moreover, just 27% of the workforce have paid family leave through their employers, and just 41% have personal medical leave through an employer-provided short-term disability program.1

Nearly 28 million workers – 22 percent of the private sector workforce – are forced to decide about caring for their health or maintaining their pay when illness strikes because they cannot earn paid sick days.2 For millions more workers who do earn paid sick leave, such leave cannot be used to care for a sick child or other family member.3The Job Protection Act expands the FMLA to include all workers who have been at their employer for more than 90 days, regardless of employer size or hours worked. The Caring for All Families Act would expand the types of family relationships for which an employee can request leave under FMLA to recognize the lived reality of today’s families, and the Family And Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act benefits working people, their families, businesses, and our nation’s economy by creating a shared fund that makes paid leave affordable for employers of all sizes and for workers and their families. Finally, the Healthy Families Act sets a national paid sick days standard and allows workers in businesses with 15 or more employees to earn up to seven job-protected paid sick days each year to recover from their own illnesses, access preventive care, provide care to a sick family member, or attend school meetings related to a child’s health condition or disability. Businesses with fewer than 15 employees may choose to meet that standard.

Recommendations

Given the growing importance of paid leave, NASW urges policy makers to:

  1. Pass the Job Protection Act, Caring for All Families Act, FAMILY Act, and Healthy Families Act.