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Health/Medical Title: House pares back paid sick and family leave benefits in coronavirus bill House lawmakers scaled back their efforts Monday night to offer millions of Americans paid sick and family leave, a weak link in the nation's fight to contain the spread of the coronavirus. [...] The revised legislation would still provide many workers with up to two weeks of paid sick leave if they are being tested or treated for coronavirus or have been diagnosed with it. Also eligible would be those who have been told by a doctor or government official to stay home because of exposure or symptoms. Under the revised bill, however, those payments would be capped at $511 a day, roughly what someone making $133,000 earns annually. The original measure called for workers to receive their full pay but limited federal reimbursement to employers to that amount. Also, workers with family members affected by coronavirus and those whose children's schools have closed would still receive up to two-thirds of their pay, though that benefit would now be limited to $200 a day. [...] Paid sick leave is especially important now because it helps keep Americans from going to their jobs if they feel ill, experts said. "You wouldn't have to choose between a paycheck and going to work and exposing people to coronavirus," said Kathleen Romig, senior policy analyst at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Also curtailed was the bill's paid family leave provision, which now calls for providing workers with two-thirds of their pay for up to another 10 weeks only if their children's schools are closed. The revisions also limit those payments to $200 a day, which would cover two-thirds of the typical daily wage of someone earning up to $75,000 annually, Romig said. [...] The revised legislation also specifies that employers could exclude health care workers and emergency responders from either paid leave provision, amid fears of staffing shortages among medical providers. The original measure would have given that power only to the Department of Labor. That leaves open the possibility that some health care workers with coronavirus might not get paid, Romig said. [...] the legislation would extend paid leave to many workers -- including part-timers, the self-employed and those in the gig economy -- who don't typically have such a benefit. The latter two would receive tax credits equal to what they would have been paid during that period. The federal government would pick up the full tab by giving companies refundable tax credits quarterly based on their Social Security payroll taxes. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Saturday that the department would advance funds to businesses concerned about their cash flows. [...] Nearly a quarter of workers don't have paid sick leave, according to federal data. And among those in the leisure and hospitality industries, who often deal with the public at places like restaurants and hotels, fewer than half can take a paid sick day. Among the lowest-paid employees, only half have access to sick leave. [...] Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: A Pole (#0)
Goodbye Democrat Party!
Liberals are like Slinkys. They're good for nothing, but somehow they bring a smile to your face as you shove them down the stairs.
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