Photo: https://www.wartburg.edu/2015/12/29/savoring-success-popcorn-heaven/

Millions of people in the United States do not have paid family and medical leave at their jobs, including small business owners themselves.

COVID-19 has proven the economic cost of a lack of paid leave. Across the country, small businesses are joining with allies to work to pass emergency paid leave and a sustainable long term program in our states and nationally.

“We’re a small, family business. Emergency assistance helped us give our employees paid leave, so they could care for their own families. It kept us open in those darkest times. Now Congress has the chance to make federal Paid Leave permanent.”

  • Mike Hamlar, Owner of Hamlar- Curtis Funeral Home in Roanoke, VA andSmall Business for Paid Leave Supporter

 
 
 
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Public

support a national paid family and medical leave policy that covers all working people

 
 
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Small Business

support establishing a federal program to guarantee access to paid family and medical leave

 
 
 

Small businesses are advancing the case for national paid leave through customer engagement, public education, policy advocacy and more.  

 

Across sectors, small businesses support a national paid family and medical leave policy to support families, strengthen the workforce coming out of this crisis and build a stronger, more resilient economy. 

 
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Policy details matter
to small business.

Healthy families and people are part of main street businesses’ bottom line. A strong paid leave plan must include a few key principles to make it work for families and small business.

Learn more
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Healthy families mean healthy small businesses and strong local economies.

Paid family and medical leave is a policy most people will need at one point or another. COVID has shown how important paid leave is to our economy. States with paid leave policies had 400 less cases of COVID per day.

And yet, just 19 percent of workers have access to paid family leave through their employers, and only 40 percent have employer provided personal medical leave to care for a personal illness.

 

Get Involved

As the owner of a small business, you play an important role in shaping public policy. Small businesses are natural leaders in our community. To foster healthy local economies, we must invest in policies that help small businesses become employers of choice in their communities.

 

Add your name in support of a national paid family and medical leave emergency and permanent solution.

 
 

Resources

 
Featured
COVID Emergency Paid Leave Resources
COVID Emergency Paid Leave Resources

Emergency Paid Leave Program Applications, Resources and more

Businesses of all sizes are advocating for paid leave.
Businesses of all sizes are advocating for paid leave.

Visit the Businesses Advancing Paid Family and Medical Leave website to learn more about high-road corporations supporting paid leave.

Small businesses support a national paid leave solution.
Small businesses support a national paid leave solution.

Review an opinion poll that surveyed small businesses on their support for paid family leave programs.

Small business voices matter.
Small business voices matter.

Download the toolkit to learn mores about engaging in the paid family and medical leave conversation.

Paid leave pays off.
Paid leave pays off.

Read the study that shows how paid leave can increase business return-on-investment.

The Small Business Case for Paid Leave
The Small Business Case for Paid Leave

Learn more about why a social insurance program is the best option for small businesses.

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Small businesses are advocating for change.

 
 

marcia st. hilaire-finn, bright start early care, district of columbia

“The paid leave options of the Families First Act were a lifeline for my business and my employees just when we needed it. In September, I had to close my early education center in Washington, DC, when we had a coronavirus exposure. We shut down for ten days as precaution—thankfully no one transmitted the virus to anyone else and we could get back to work after those ten days. Having access to this paid leave meant I could continue to pay my entire staff—18 people—even though they couldn’t work because of the public health measures we took. My employees collected their checks and I could feel confident that making the right decision to protect others wouldn’t mean my employees wouldn’t miss rent or food on the table. 

Since then, it’s given my staff the peace of mind to know that if they need to miss work to stay safe and stay healthy they can do so and still be paid. It’s put my mind at ease as well. Knowing that I have this tool at my disposal gives me another way to keep continuity at my staff, which is crucial for the children we care for. We’ve been lucky to have only one instance where we’ve needed to use the program, but it’s important to know it will be there when we need it. That’s why it’s so important to extend the provisions for the duration of the pandemic. We need to do all we can to help people stay safe and still take care of their families.”

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Karen Lamy DeSousa, Advance Heat & Air, East Freetown, Massachusetts

“If it’s good enough for Massachusetts, why can’t it work across the United States? People should be able to take paid time away from work to welcome a new child, care for a sick loved one, or recover from an illness of their own. Thanks to the laws we’ve passed here in the Commonwealth, working people can soon do all those things. In 2018, Massachusetts passed legislation that guarantees access to paid family and medical leave beginning in 2021.

“However, the rest of America may not be as lucky. There has been a lot of talk about different proposals, from universal paid family and medical leave insurance to a restrictive and exclusive parental leave bill. A strong national paid family and medical leave policy makes a difference to me as a business owner who knows that caring for people is an important part of my bottom line. Policies like this help small businesses like mine and the 20 employees I’m responsible for.”

Dr. Thuy Tran, Rose City Vision Care, Portland, Oregon

“A week after I gave birth to my child I had to go back to work. I had not been in business long and had no money saved. Luckily, my mom was able to come and be at my office to help care for my child while I was with patients. I had to nurse in between appointments, which was really stressful.

“While my mother was able to help me out then, soon I may need to help her.  She is getting older and has diabetes. If she was to get sick or have something serious happen, I don’t know what I would do. I want a paid family and medical leave policy to be there, in case anything happens to her. Paying a little bit over time for the insurance benefit just makes sense. Then when I or when of my employees need to take leave, the support is there. This is affordable for small business.  What is not affordable is to have to pay for leave all at once.

“It could mean the difference between keeping the business open or us needing to close our doors, and my eight employees losing their livelihoods too.”

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Tony Sandkamp, SandKamp WoodWorks, Jersey City, new Jersey

“Four years ago one of my employees came to me and said his wife was having twins. He needed help getting some paid time off, and we weren’t sure to what to do. Luckily, I had a friend who knew about New Jersey’s Family Leave Insurance Program. The paperwork was pretty straightforward. We filled it out together and sent it in, and he got two thirds of his wages replaced while bonding with his twins. He is a very important part of my business, and this was very important to his life. So we made adjustments, he got some paid time with his family, and he’s still with us.  

“I also remember life before our paid leave program, and I know that’s still the reality for most small businesses and workers around the country.  In 2006, before there was any such program, I had an employee who had to leave his job because of family needs. I only found out after the fact that his mother was dying of cancer, around the Christmas season. He could have really used the New Jersey Family Leave Insurance then. This was awful for him.  It was a tough loss for me personally since along with losing an employee, I also lost a longtime friend.  It was also detrimental to my business.  He had been my best employee for several years and performed many critical management functions.  The costs of the time and money it took to replace him were astronomical. I had to take time away from my responsibilities as the owner to fill the gap in the interim.

“The difference the state Family Leave Insurance Law has made for my employees and my business is clear.”

Press

 
Press
Business Organizations Urge Paid Leave to Stay in Final Build Back Better Bill

Business organizations across the country are calling for swift passage of the Build Back Better Act, with the inclusion of a national paid leave program: A collection of statements.

1000+ businesses, including nearly 300 business leaders, owners issue urgent call for Congress to include paid leave in Build Back Better legislation
Small Business Owners Cite Paid Leave and Child Care as Critically Needed Investments in NEW survey

Main Street Alliance released results of its latest pop member survey today showing critical need and support for investments in care infrastructure including paid leave and child care support as part of the recovery packages.

Small Business Advocacy Organizations Urge Congress to Take Action on Paid Family and Medical Leave

Organizations representing hundreds of thousands of small business owners signed on to a letter urging Congress to guarantee paid family and medical leave for all small businesses and their employees in the United States.

The letter, delivered to Congressional offices on Wednesday, calls on lawmakers to strengthen paid leave provisions that will allow small business owners and workers to take time off from work to care for themselves and/or their loved ones. Paid leave has already been shown to help to suppress the spread of the virus and provide stability for business owners who continue to deal with immense uncertainty. The signers noted they were encouraged by the scale and broad focus of the infrastructure programs included in the American Jobs & Families Plans the Biden administration has and will announce.

Letter to Congress: Small Businesses Urge Action on Permanent Paid Leave

Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader McConnell, Majority Leader Schumer, and Minority Leader McCarthy:
We applaud the passage of the American Rescue Plan - a program of a scale and substance needed to address many of the urgent needs facing small business owners, our employees and customers.

Paid leave is an essential component to ensuring more small businesses are able to make it back to profitability and to leveling the playing field for small businesses in the long run. We must never be unprepared for a crisis like this again.

Small business owners overwhelmingly supported national paid leave even before the pandemic and as critical COVID relief during the outbreak for numerous reasons:

New Poll: Two Thirds of Small Business Owners Support A National Policy for Paid Family and Medical Leave, Choose It Over Liability Protection 2-to-1

A new nationwide poll of 600 small business owners from the Paid Leave for All Campaign found that about two-thirds (64%) of small businesses owners favored the U.S. having a national policy for paid family and medical leave. Support for paid leave by small business owners is also not a partisan issue, with 80% of Democratic, 55% of Republican, and 52% of Independent owners in favor of a national policy for paid family and medical leave.

Release: Small Businesses Support Robust COVID Paid Leave and a Permanent Package

Organizations representing hundreds of thousands of small business owners have signed on to a letter urging Congress to guarantee paid family and medical leave for all small businesses and their employees in the United States. Several of the signatory organizations, as well as three small business owners, joined U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Sharice Davids (D-KS) for a webinar to discuss this urgent need.

Letter to Congress in Support of Robust Paid Leave
Small Businesses Applaud the Families First Act, Want PAID Act Next

The Small Business for Paid Leave Coalition applauds this historic moment in providing paid leave for the first time to American workers and businesses. The passage of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act is a sorely needed urgent first step in addressing the crisis of health, pay and care exposed through this pandemic. 

Small Business for Paid Leave Coalition Urges passing Coronavirus Bill HR 6201

The Small Business for Paid Leave Coalition is calling on Congress to immediately pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (HR 6201).

From sharp decreases in consumer demand to disrupted supply chains, we are seeing dramatic impacts on small businesses due to the spread of COVID-19. This crisis shows exactly why strong public health foundations are needed, both for healthy communities, and also for a healthy economy.