Opportunities to Get Involved
The United States is the only industrialized country in the world that doesn’t have a national paid family and medical leave policy. Hundreds of millions of Americans have no safety net to protect their economic security when dealing with life’s inevitable experiences that require time off work, like birth and bonding with a new child or dealing with an illness.
Paid Leave Crisis Documentary
The lack of paid leave is a crisis that has been impacting our most vulnerable communities for decades. The documentary, Zero Weeks, exposes the injustice of this issue by sharing research on why paid leave is critical to a healthy country, as well as personal stories of six people who struggled to take care of themselves and their loved ones during life’s most difficult moments. It is worth the watch.
Watch Zero Weeks for free to learn about the paid leave crisis in the U.S. »
What can we do about this paid leave crisis?
California was the first state in the U.S. to pass Paid Family Leave in 2002. This was due to the hard work of the California Work & Family Coalition—made up of workers, parents, caregivers, attorneys, unions, and nonprofits—organizing our time and efforts to educate our legislators on why we need paid leave.
Since 2002, the Coalition has expanded Paid Leave four times, helped win workplace support such as lactation accommodation, and Coalition members continue to work on pandemic-related emergency paid sick days and permanent paid sick days at the local, state, and federal level. Coalition members also work together and in their organizations to expand awareness of our current laws through “Know Your Rights” trainings and through training and supporting community educators.
The Coalition’s focus is to build power among every day people who want to win paid leave for all. We use our voices and rally support to let our legislators know what policies we need to be a healthy and thriving society. You can join our community of paid leave advocates by signing up at workfamilyca.org/advocacy.
Join our team of advocates to help pass better paid leave in the U.S. »
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