Gillibrand: ‘A Disgrace’ Every Employer in U.S. Isn’t Paying 14 Days of Sick Days

Friday on “MSNBC Live,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) criticized the fact that not every employer in the United States is paying 14 days of sick days for employees amid the coronavirus outbreak.

While Congress weighs a coronavirus relief package that would help allow for employers to pay for sick days, Gillibrand called it “a disgrace” the United States is “far behind” other countries in paying up to 14 days for sick leave.

“We want to make sure that people who are sick can stay home so we want mandatory paid sick leave for up to two weeks. We also want paid family and medical leave because if your child’s school has shut down, you can’t choose between caring for a child and getting a paycheck,” Gillibrand told MSNBC. “The best solution there is to have a national paid leave plan put in place.”

She added, “[W]hat we would try to put in place is the employer will keep paying their employees through their paid leave and that the government would reimburse those employees. That is how we intend to do it. It’s very efficient that way. And we’re asking for paid sick days. So, for all those companies that don’t offer paid sick days, we are asking them to pay for those paid sick days immediately. If they’re going to need assistance to do that down the road, that’s something we can provide. But we are asking every employer in the United States to pay 14 days of paid sick days for every employee in this country. They should be doing it already, and it’s a disgrace they’re not. And if they’re not, we’re asking them to do it now.”

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