Expanding access to family leave for working families – The United States is one of only a minority of countries that provides no legal guarantee of maternity leave to new mothers. Hillary’s national paid leave initiative will set a goal of having all states adopt family leave programs by 2016; provide generous grants to states to develop family leave programs in their states; and establish the federal government as a model workplace in providing family leave.

• In New Hampshire, this proposal could impact approximately 500,000 private-sector workers – 91 percent of all private-sector workers – who do not have paid family leave, according to the National Partnership for Women & Families.

   

Ensure that all Americans have access to sick days – Forty-eight percent of private sector workers and 57 million total workers in the United States have no paid sick days at all. And 86 million workers do not have paid sick days that can be used to care for sick children. Hillary is proposing to make a minimum of 7 sick days a year standard.

• In New Hampshire, that could impact more than quarter of a million people. According to the National Partnership for Women & Families, about 260,000 New Hampshire workers did not have paid sick days in 2006.

   

Reward employers who help their employees balance work and family – Hillary will establish a new public-private partnership program on model workplaces at the Department of Labor that will recognize businesses that have innovative workplace flexibility programs. It will also provide grants to those and other businesses to expand their models to serve more employees. Hillary will also require federal agencies to set specific telecommuting goals for their workforces and invest up to $50 million annual in state and local telecommuting initiatives. And Hillary will work to expand access and improve the quality of child care in our country. Her plan includes helping states improve and enforce licensing and safety standards; supporting innovative public-private partnerships that will increase the supply of quality child care for families; promoting quality ratings systems that help families evaluate programs; and supporting workforce initiatives to make sure child care providers get the right training.

Protect parents from discrimination – Hillary believes that too many mothers and fathers who have care-giving responsibilities are not protected from discrimination. A pregnant woman should not be fired because her employer does not allow employees to take unpaid leave for a temporary disability. A father should not be fired because he has to care for his wife or his children. As President, Hillary will work to prohibit discrimination against parents.