While pregnant with my son I not only dealt with the new adventures that my body took me on, but I was also worried about my job, my maternity leave, and it caused me to research different laws. In my research I came across moms rising, and became a subscriber. In my search, I became overwhelmed with utter dismay and appreciation. Appreciation because I was happy that I could take a 12 week leave and still have my job when I come back, but dismayed because it would be unpaid. Then I was further shocked when I learned of other countries medical leave laws:
US 12 weeks unpaid
Canada 18 weeks unpaid
France 6wks before labor, and ends 8 weeks after
And Europe Maternity leave is granted to all working mothers but then different companies have their maternity leave packages so you need to have full information regarding maternity leave.
Maternity leave laws in Europe give the mother a paid leave of THIRTY NINE WEEKS PAID though the time period is divided into two i.e. ordinary and additional leave which can last for a period of 6months each. The employers have their own schemes to offer which benefits mother as well as the new born but then you need to qualify to receive these maternity leave benefits.
You are granted unpaid leave in case you adopt a baby or become a surrogate mother.
In the event of a miscarriage you are entitled to the thirty nine weeks of paid maternity leave in spite of having undergone a miscarriage or your baby is stillborn at birth but then this law applies only if the pregnancy has crossed the twenty four week gestation period.
Now isn’t that just appalling?
So now we have jobs, that don’t want to give their employees, (a good amount of this employees are mothers) paid sick days. Read below to see what you can do to help out.
I used to be a kitchen manager in a restaurant, and only the salaried managers (not me) had paid sick leave. As a result, employees often came to work sick because they couldn't afford to lose a day's pay. I remember going to work with strep throat once – I was running a fever and was so sick that I had to sit on a stack of milk crates in order to work. Employees shouldn't have to make those kinds of choices, and the public shouldn't be put at risk by companies unwilling to protect public health by acknowledging the humanity of their employees – we all get sick sometimes! – and giving paid sick leave.”
-MomsRising member from Maryland
Over the last few months, we've been asking MomsRising members to send us their personal stories about the need for paid sick days and the response has been overwhelming.
Members from every state have shared their stories, demonstrating the indisputable truth that lack of a rational paid sick day policy impacts each and every one of us.
How?
* One mom writes that her child now has permanent hearing damage because she delayed taking her child to doctor due to lack of paid sick days;
* Another works in a hospital and reports that many hospital employees show up to work sick because they do not have paid sick days;
* Still another mom of two children with autoimmune disorders is forced to contend with serious health problems when her kids get sick because other parents do not have paid sick days and must send their children to school sick.
Clearly, the fact that nearly 40 percent of private sector workers, and nearly 80 percent of low wage workers do not have a single paid sick day makes no sense for our families' health or our nation's economy. [1]
With your help, we can change this.
Can you support our campaign for paid sick days by making a contribution today? http://action.momsrising.org/go/PSDdonation/307?akid=2238.625479.QxNpAf&t=4
With your help, we can turbo-charge our campaign to pass the Healthy Families Act, which would guarantee that employees of all but the smallest businesses are allowed to earn up to 7 paid sick days a year. In addition, we're entering campaign season so we need your help in this crucial time to make sure that all candidates understand that paid sick days are a critical issue for moms and dads.
It's not just MomsRising that thinks this issue is a priority. In fact, a recent poll demonstrates that over 75 percent of the public supports paid sick days. [2]
We've collected hundreds of heart-breaking and heart-stopping stories from MomsRising members from every state in the nation. Now we need your support to make sure that these stories--and more!--are in the hands of decision makers, candidates, and are heard by the American public. We need to step up our strategic media campaigns and creative on-the-ground actions now in order to make this happen. And, we need to pump up our efforts to pass the Healthy Families Act.
But we can't do it without your help.
Although the Healthy Families Act now has over 120 co-sponsors in the House, and key leadership in the Senate is backing the Healthy Families Act as well, this legislation isn't moving forward as quickly as it should. In fact, some would say it's downright stalled.
We need to amplify our efforts to make this legislation move through Congress.
With our more than a million members taking action and sharing our personal stories, we have the power and political muscle to make our political leaders and candidates stand up and pay attention to the needs of moms and dads--particularly in this coming election season.
Yet without adequate resources we can't fully flex our muscle.
Please help us flex our superhero muscles by making a donation to our paid sick day campaign today! http://action.momsrising.org/go/PSDdonation/307?akid=2238.625479.QxNpAf&t=6
Together, we can move mountains. Thank you!
Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director
MomsRising
P.S. Have a story to share about paid sick days? Click here: http://action.momsrising.org/go/184?akid=2238.625479.QxNpAf&t=8
P.P.S. Check out great articles about paid sick days in our blog carnival here: http://action.momsrising.org/go/308?akid=2238.625479.QxNpAf&t=10
[1] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Selected Paid Leave Benefits: Access. March 2010.
[2] Testimony of Heidi Hartmann, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, 2007.
[3] T. Smith and J. Kim, Paid Sick Days: Attitudes and Experiences, National Opinion Research Center and the Public Welfare Foundation (June 2010) (“NORC Report”), available at www.publicwelfare.org. Data were collected via a telephone survey of 1461 adults in the United States, conducted from March 18 through May 6, 2010.
