By Andrea Paluso
Parents for Paid Leave is a volunteer-run, grassroots organization started by a group of Oregon parents who wanted to see paid family leave available to all Oregon’s working families. They believe the state should offer a way for parents to have paid time off work after the birth or adoption of a child or when they need to care for a sick loved one.
Currently, many parents with a new child take a combination of sick days, vacation days, and unpaid time. This means they return to work with a new baby and no paid days off. Also, they argue, this approach assumes parents have paid time off at all. Many don’t. In fact, 51% of private employees do not have a single paid sick day through their job. They simply do not get paid when they take time off, even for their own illness. Many of those who have access to unpaid job-protected leave through FLMA don’t take it because they cannot afford to.
Parents for Paid Leave believes that having no access to paid family leave forces parents to make choices between keeping their job or caring for their children, a choice that we believe none of us should have to make.
If you’d like to learn more about this effort, visit www.parentsforpaidleave.org. You can help this organization pass legislation for family leave by simply joining the mailing list at: www.parentsforpaidleave.org/content/join-our-mailing-list.html
