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This Year's Election Could Have Impacts on FMLA and Sick Leave in Virginia

NPR

When can employees take time off? And how much time should they get to leave work? Lawmakers are expected to consider these questions next year, and the results will depend on what happens during this year’s election.

For many working families, taking time off can mean potentially losing a job. A federal law protects some workers with 12 weeks of unpaid leave. But Freddy Mejia at the Commonwealth Institute says that does not apply to more than half the workers in Virginia.

“Simply because they can’t afford to or because they work for businesses that don’t need to offer unpaid leave through the Family and Medical Leave Act,” he says.

He says the General Assembly can protect against people falling through the cracks by joining six other states that have passed family and medical leave laws.

Amanda Silcox at the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy adds all employers should be required to offer five sick days, and advocates are already working with lawmakers to craft a bill for next year.

“Basically if you have paid time off currently, you wouldn’t have to create new paid sick time just as long as that paid time off can also be used for sick days," Silcox explains. "But yeah, we think everybody in Virginia should be able to accrue or earn their paid sick days.”

Lawmakers are expected to consider family and medical leave as well as mandatory sick days next year, when a new General Assembly will be meeting at the Capitol. And the fate of both of those bills could depend on who gets elected this November, and what they’ll be willing to vote for in Richmond.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Michael Pope is an author and journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria.