On March 20, 2013, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) reintroduced legislation originally introduced in 2004 into the House and Senate. The 49-page Healthy Families Act would mandate that employers provide “paid sick time so that [employees] can address their own health needs and the health needs of their families.”
In what appears to be a further extension of the FMLA, the proposed bill would allow workers to earn up to 56 hours of paid sick leave: one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Employers who already provide paid sick time would not have to change their current policies, as long as the policy provides for at least the same accrual and earning rate as the bill provides for and if the sick time can be used for the same purposes. Employers would be able to require workers to provide documentation supporting any request for leave longer than three consecutive days.