State Senate: Pass Earned Sick/Safe Time

Urge your Senator to Support Earned Sick/Safe Time Legislation

Allowing workers to earn paid Earned Sick and Safe Time for every 30 hours worked will be a step towards putting families first. This legislation has already passed in the House, and now it is the Senate's turn to get it done!

Illness in one’s life or family is inevitable.  Caring for newborns, children, the sick, and elderly (and being cared for ourselves) is an integral part of family life that must be respected and promoted.

Unfortunately, many working people are forced to make impossible financial choices between caring for themselves or a loved one and missing a paycheck or even getting fired. According to one estimate, approximately 1.1 million Minnesotans, or 41 percent of the state’s workforce, face this situation because their jobs do not offer earned sick leave.

Without the ability to earn time off to care for sick family members or to recover from their own illness, we are making clear that the health of workers and caring for families are not values of our society.

S.F. 34 would help support the dignity of the human person and protect workers by providing them the security to accumulate time they can take off to handle serious family responsibilities without the risk of losing income or even their job.

What MCC has done so far (Resources/Testimony):

• Testified in the Senate Labor Committee in support
• Testified in the House Labor and Industry Finance and Policy Committee in support

Church Teaching:

The Earned Sick and Safe Time bill would enable individuals to rightly prioritize the care of their families. We know from the Fourth Commandment, that even grown children have responsibilities toward their parent. The Catechism reminds adult children that, “as much as they can, they must give [parents] material and moral support in old age and in times of illness, loneliness, or distress” (CCC, 2218).

The Catechism also reminds us that, “those responsible for business enterprises … have an obligation to consider the good of persons and not only the increase of profits” (CCC, 2432).

Act Now

One Minute: Send a message to your state senator asking them to support S.F. 34 – “Earned Sick and Safe Time” (ESS) allowing employees to earn one hour of paid ESS time for every 30 hours worked.

3 Minutes: After sending your elected officials a quick email, take another minute to call their office or send a video message. A suggested script and talking points will show up on your device. Legislators do not often get calls from their constituents, so a follow-up call or video will greatly increase your impact and further build your relationship.

More Time: Let us together pray to St. Joseph, patron saint of workers. Take time to ask for his intercession to guide our legislators to develop policies and laws that protect workers and enable people to provide necessary care for their families. Click here to pray a novena to St. Joseph.