Agenda - Council - 09/13/2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

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across jurisdictions and populations, are eligible under the interim final rule as assistance to households and continue to be so under the final rule, as outlined below. 11. Paid sick, medical, or family leave. Public Comment: Some commenters argued that the pandemic increased the need for paid sick or medical leave, as staying home when ill is recommended by the CDC to prevent spread of the virus but lack of access to paid sick leave often prevents workers from staying home. Other commenters recommended paid family leave as an eligible use, arguing that shortages in access to childcare or home health assistance, as well as school closures, may increase the need for family members to serve as caretakers. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of paid leave as well as the number of workers who do not have access to paid sick and/or family leave. When workers have access to paid leave, they are less likely to report to work sick, and therefore less likely to spread illnesses in the workplace: one study demonstrates that the emergency sick leave provision of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) reduced the spread of COVID-19.155 The lack of paid leave exacerbates financial hardships experienced as a result of the public health emergency. A 2018 survey by the Department of Labor found that two-thirds of employees that took unpaid or partial -paid leave experienced financial hardship. i 56 Furthermore, because the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) excludes small employers, part-time 155 Stefan Pichler, Katherine Wen, and Nicolas R. Ziebarth, COVID-19 Emergency Sick Leave Has Helped Flatten The Curve In The United States: Study examines the impact of emergency sick leave on the spread of COVID-19, Health Affairs 39, no. 12 (2020): 2197-2204, https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00863. 156 Scott Brown et al., Employee and Worksite Perspectives of the Family and Medical Leave Act: Results from the 2018 Surveys, Abt Associates (July 2020), https://www. dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OASP/evaluation/pdf/WHD_FMLA2018 SurveyResults_FinalReport_Aug20 20.pdf. 110