Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - Hillary Plan Provides 1.4 Million SC Workers Paid Family Leave

Campaign Unveils SC Impact of Hillary's New Work-Family Agenda, Gains Endorsement of SC Democratic Women's Past President

(AIKEN) – The Hillary Clinton campaign today released a report detailing the South Carolina impact of Hillary's new work-family agenda while receiving the endorsement of former South Carolina Democratic Women's Council President Louisiana Wright.

Wright, also former first vice president of the Aiken County Democratic Party and former Chair of the Aiken County First Steps Partnership Board, unveiled the benefits for South Carolina of Hillary's effort to give families the support they need to more effectively balance work and family obligations today at an announcement on the steps of the University of South Carolina Aiken campus's College of Business and Education Building.

"Working families in Aiken and across the state will benefit from Hillary's plan. Paid family leave would finally be real for 1.4 million more South Carolinians," Wright said. "As past president of the State Democratic Women's Council, I'm supporting a woman who will change our country's direction and make sure that working families matter in the decisions of the White House."

Hillary's work-family agenda will:

• Expand paid leave across the country through a new State Family Leave Innovation Fund;
• Extend the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to cover 13 million additional American workers and guarantee workers at least 7 paid sick days per year;
• Promote model workplaces with grants to support new workplace flexibility programs and a federal telecommuting initiative;
• Ensure better access to affordable, high quality child care; and
• Prevent parents from being discriminated against because of pregnancy or their caregiving responsibilities.

According to today's impact report, up to 1.4 million private-sector workers in South Carolina could be impacted by Hillary's plan to extend access to family leave. In addition, Hillary is proposing to make a minimum of 7 sick days a year standard. That would mean help to nearly three-quarters of a million South Carolina workers who were without paid sick days in 2006. Forty-eight percent of private sector workers and 57 million total workers in the United States have no paid sick days at all. And 86 million workers do not have paid sick days that can be used to care for sick children.

A complete copy of the impact report follows.

Families today are struggling to find quality time with their children while meeting their responsibilities to their jobs. More women have entered the workforce, and today's parents work longer hours than ever before. As a result, American parents have 22 fewer hours a week to spend with their kids than they did in 1969. A 2002 report by the Families and Work Institute found that 45 percent of employees say that work and family responsibilities interfere with each other, and 67 percent of working parents say they do not have enough time with their children.

Hillary Clinton believes that as these new challenges confront America's families, our policies need to catch up. That is why she has announced a new work-family agenda for our modern economy. This bold new effort will give families the support they need to more effectively balance work and family obligations. And it will work in partnership with America's businesses to ensure that pro-family work policies and increased workplace flexibility help improve American competitiveness and economic growth. Hillary's work-family agenda includes:

Expanding access to family leave for working families –The United States is one of only a minority of countries that provides no legal guarantee of maternity leave to new mothers. Hillary's national paid leave initiative will set a goal of having all states adopt family leave programs by 2016; provide generous grants to states to develop family leave programs in their states; and establish the federal government as a model workplace in providing family leave.

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• In South Carolina, this policy could impact 1.4 million private-sector workers – 91 percent of all private-sector workers – who do not have paid family leave, according to the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Ensure that all Americans have access to sick days – Forty-eight percent of private sector workers and 57 million total workers in the United States have no paid sick days at all. And 86 million workers do not have paid sick days that can be used to care for sick children. Hillary is proposing to make a minimum of 7 sick days a year standard.

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• In South Carolina, this policy will impact more than three-quarters of a million people. According to the National Partnership for Women & Families, 794,132 South Carolina workers were without paid sick days in 2006.

Total number of South Carolina workers: 1,800,855
Number of South Carolina workers without paid sick leave: 794,132
Percent of South Carolina workers without paid sick leave: 44
Percent of workers nationally without paid sick leave:42

Reward employers who help their employees balance work and family – Hillary will establish a new public-private partnership program on model workplaces at the Department of Labor that will recognize businesses that have innovative workplace flexibility programs. It will also provide grants to those and other businesses to expand their models to serve more employees. Hillary will also require federal agencies to set specific telecommuting goals for their workforces and invest up to $50 million annual in state and local telecommuting initiatives. And Hillary will work to expand access and improve the quality of child care in our country. Her plan includes helping states improve and enforce licensing and safety standards; supporting innovative public-private partnerships that will increase the supply of quality child care for families; promoting quality ratings systems that help families evaluate programs; and supporting workforce initiatives to make sure child care providers get the right training.

Protect parents from discrimination – Hillary believes that too many mothers and fathers who have care-giving responsibilities are not protected from discrimination. A pregnant woman should not be fired because her employer does not allow employees to take unpaid leave for a temporary disability. A father should not be fired because he has to care for his wife or his children.