President Joe Biden has a gift for workers, especially working women hard-hit by COVID-induced school and daycare closures: government-guaranteed paid time off from work.
The president’s recently released American Families Plan offers an annual benefit of 12 weeks of paid leave for workers facing a personal illness, the illness of a loved one, a new child, bereavement, sexual assault or domestic violence, or a loved one’s military deployment. Workers on leave would receive a minimum of two-thirds of their normal pay. The outline doesn’t stipulate if the government will fund the program with a new payroll tax or if businesses will simply be required to provide these benefits and cover the costs.
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