Labor Department mandates paid sick leave for government contractors

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. Labor Department finalized rules requiring federal government contractors to provide sick leave for up to seven days per year.

The White House announced the sick leave rule along with a rule requiring companies with 100 or more workers to report how much they pay them by race, gender, ethnicity and job category.

One year ago, Obama signed an executive order compelling federal contractors to provide paid sick leave. The Labor Department then drafted the federal rule, which will take affect on Jan. 1.

"This is really part of a broader conversation across America about what a 21st-century social compact should look like," Thomas E. Perez, the labor secretary, said in an interview with The Washington Post. "Back in the day, when Beaver Cleaver got sick and June Cleaver was home, who takes off to stay with the Beav was a nonissue. In today's world of dual-career couples in the work force, our public policy has not caught up."

The contractors sick pay mandate will cover about 1.1 million workers and will allow them up to seven days of compensated time each year. Nearly 600,000 employees do not currently have even one single day of paid sick leave, the White House said.

Workers can use paid sick leave for their own illnesses and preventive care as well as care for a family member or loved one. Employers won't be allowed to retaliate against employees for using time or require them to find replacements to take their place.

Obama has repeatedly called on Congress to pass the Healthy Families Act, which would guarantee most Americans up to seven days of paid sick leave each year.

More than 20 cities and states around the country have passed laws mandating paid sick leave, according to the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Perez called losing a day or two of wages "the difference between food on the table," he said, "and gas in the tank."

A record share of private sector workers now have access to paid sick leave, increasing from 61 percent to 64 percent over the past year, the White House said.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will begin collecting summary pay data. Companies already file paperwork annually file to the government, EEOC Chairwoman Jenny Yang said.

The EEOC will publicly release the data yearly, showing the average pay for workers across demographic groups, industries and regions.

Obama's first legislation signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to ensure that Americans can effectively challenge unequal pay in the courts. Also, a 2014 executive order prohibited federal contractors from discriminating against employees who discuss their pay. And a White House Equal Pay Pledge has now been signed by more than 50 of America's leading businesses.