Obama pushes for expansion of paid sick leave

President Obama announced this week that he will push to bring paid sick and family leave to more private-sector employees (Source: “Obama tries again to get paid leave for more workers,” Associated Press via Washington Post, Jan. 15, 2015).

“Forty-three million Americans do not get paid sick leave,” Obama said. “It’s a pretty astonishing statistic.” 

The White House said Obama will push the issue in the State of the Union address he delivers Tuesday night to a joint session of Congress.

Obama wants Congress, states and cities to pass measures to let workers earn up to a week of paid sick time a year. He’ll also ask for more than $2 billion to encourage states to create paid family and medical leave programs.