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Congresswoman Clarke’s Statement on Paid Sick Leave for Employees of Federal Contractors

Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement on President Obama’s executive order requiring contractors with the federal government to provide workers with as many as seven days of paid sick leave each year. The executive order will become effective in 2017.

“Today, more than forty-three million workers in the United States are denied access to paid sick leave. As a result, individuals who need to recuperate instead must work or risk the loss of income, threatening other workers and customers – particularly in food service – with communicable illnesses. All workers should have the ability to participate in our economy without fearing that an illness will result in termination. We should not as a society require people to choose between health and job security. The health and safety of our employees must always remain a priority,” said Congresswoman Clarke, who co-sponsored H.R.932, the Healthy Families Act, which requires all companies with more than fifteen workers to provide paid sick leave. “I am proud that New York City has been a leader in establishing paid sick leave as a right for all workers. Now, Congress has a responsibility to act on behalf of working families by enacting the Healthy Families Act to expand  access to paid sick leave.”

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, the Committee on Ethics and the Committee of Small Business in the House of Representatives, proudly represents Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, Park Slope, Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.

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