Sen. Rausch on COVID emergency paid sick leave

Senator Becca Rausch: 

"Last month I filed a bill to provide paid time off for parents and caregivers taking children to COVID-19 vaccination appointments; today that provision is headed to the governor's desk to be signed into law. We cannot get to the other side of this pandemic without widespread vaccination, and we cannot force families to choose between putting food on the table and providing their children with life-saving preventive care. I am so proud that my proposal to uplift Massachusetts families was included in the Legislature's COVID emergency paid sick leave extension, and I remain fervently committed to advancing the data-driven public health policies we need to safeguard our communities.

Sen. Rausch on COVID emergency paid sick leave

Legislative Statement on Emergency Paid COVID Leave

Statement on Emergency Paid COVID Leave 

 

"The evidence is overwhelming: receiving the COVID-19 vaccination is the best way to keep our residents safe, end the pandemic in Massachusetts, and ensure we can continue the process of building a robust and equitable economic recovery. In order for the Governor's vaccine mandate to be successful, the Legislature will work to extend emergency paid COVID leave in the Commonwealth past the September 30, 2021 deadline and ensure that all workers have the opportunity to take time from work to receive the vaccine if and when they can." 

 

Senate President Karen E. Spilka 

Speaker of the House Ronald Mariano 

Senator Jason Lewis 

Representative Paul Donato 

Boston Globe: "Workers to get a boost in 2021 as new laws take effect Jan. 1"

The Boston Globe has the following:

"The new year will be an important one for workers’ rights in Massachusetts. Here are three key pieces of legislation that will take effect in 2021. The trio is part of a large labor and wages bill passed in 2018, known as the grand bargain. Advocates say several of the measures will help workers desperately in need of relief during the pandemic. In addition, starting this year workers will be eligible for holiday pay on Juneteenth, after officials recognized it as a state holiday.

1. Paid family and medical leave

Starting next year, all employees in Massachusetts will have access to paid family and medical leave that will allow up to 12 weeks of family leave and up to 20 weeks of medical leave, with the guarantee that they would be restored to their same or equivalent positions, with the same status, pay, and employment benefits."

 

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/30/metro/workers-get-boost-2021-new-laws-take-effect-jan-1/

In the News: Paychecks get smaller; wind power growth threatened

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"Paychecks are about to get a little smaller in Massachusetts.

Employer and employee contributions to the state Department of Family and Medical Leave Employment Security Trust Fund begin coming out of paychecks on Tuesday. That’s the funding source for the new paid family and medical leave benefit signed into law last year."

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https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190930/payroll-deduction-for-mass-paid-leave-starts-oct-1

"The winds are blowing fair for America’s wind power industry, making it one of the fastest-growing U.S. energy sources.

Land-based turbines are rising by the thousands across America, from the remote Texas plains to farm towns of Iowa. And the U.S. wind boom now is expanding offshore, with big corporations planning $70 billion in investment for the country’s first utility-scale offshore wind farms.

“We have been blessed to have it,” says Polly McMahon, a 13th-generation resident of Block Island, where a pioneering offshore wind farm replaced the island’s dirty and erratic diesel-fired power plant in 2016. “I hope other people are blessed too.”

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https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190930/presidents-windmill-hatred-is-worry-for-booming-industry

"officer was placed on unpaid administrative leave"

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

A local police officer is on unpaid administrative leave after his arrest late last month on an assault-and-battery charge in Foxborough, according to the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office.

Trever LaCasse, 25, of Wrentham, pleaded not guilty to assault and battery (misdemeanor) on a family or household member during his arraignment July 1 in Wrentham District Court, according to David Traub, spokesman for the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office.

LaCasse, a Franklin patrol officer, was ordered to return Aug. 28 for pre-trial conference, Traub said.

As is common in cases involving the prosecution of police officers, the case has been assigned to an independent prosecutor to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest, said Traub.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190709/franklin-police-officer-charged-with-assault-on-unpaid-leave

MassBudget: The health effects of Paid Family and Medical Leave

MassBudget    Information.    Participation.  Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center    Democracy. April 19, 2018 The health effects of Paid Family and Medical Leave Health is influenced by a variety of factors, such as where people live, access to healthy foods, and affordability of health care. Policies that address a worker's ability to care for family members, like Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML), also shape health outcomes. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center's new report, Time to Care:The Health Effects of Paid Family & Medical Leave, finds that PFML can have a range of effects on child health, parental health, and senior health. The report explores the different impacts PFML has on health outcomes, which include: Reducing negative effects that particular aspects of work have on pregnant women, many of which are associated with delivery complications. Benefits to children's and mothers' health through increased rates and duration of breastfeeding when mothers are able to take leave. More time for parents to bond with newborns, recover from childbirth, and take young children to the doctor. Improvement of mothers' mental health when they have access to job-protected, paid leave. More time for workers to care for elder relatives. Read the full report here. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, 15 Court Square, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02108 Sent by nberger@massbudget.org in collaboration with Try it free today

MassBudget: Evidence on How Paid Leave Helps Working Mothers

Maintaining employment connections

Report Examines Effect of Paid Leave on Working Mothers Working parents are more economically secure when they can maintain an income while taking time away from their job to nurture and bond with a new child. One of the goals of paid family and medical leave (PFML) laws is to help new parents maintain an attachment to the labor force. MassBudget's new report, How Paid Family & Medical Leave Impacts Working Mothers, examines recent research including a study of the experience in California, which has the longest-standing and best-documented PFML program in the nation.  Examining the employment history of working mothers before and after the California PFML law took effect, the study finds that after the law, women were substantially more likely to be working a year after having a child than before the law. While new mothers who accessed the state's paid family leave program were out of the workforce in the short term, they were more likely to return to work and remain employed than those without access to PFML MassBudget's new report also examines the data on how often mothers are the primary or sole source of income in a family with children as well as the current availability of paid family and medical leave in New England. It also examines other outcomes in states with PFML laws, including the lengths of leaves taken and the effects on wages. MassBudget's new report can be read here. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, 15 Court Square, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02108 Sent by nberger@massbudget.org in collaboration with Try it free today

MassBudget: Two New Fact Sheets on Paid Family Medical Leave

Studies analyze leave in Mass and other states

MassBudget    Information.    Participation.  Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center    Democracy. Two New Fact Sheets Examine Paid Family and Medical Leave Two new fact sheets released today from MassBudget examine what Massachusetts residents do now in the absence of a statewide Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program, and examine what we can learn from other states that have enacted statewide PFML. When they have a child, need to care for an ill family member, or are ill themselves, Massachusetts workers often can't afford to take extended leave with a total loss of wages. Existing laws can help eligible employees to take shorter-term paid leave or ensure the right to longer-term unpaid leave if they can afford it. But workers have fewer options if they can't afford more than a short duration without their wages. The first research report, Family and Medical Leave in Massachusetts: A Current Snapshot, authored by economists Randy Albelda from the University of Massachusetts Boston and Alan Clayton-Matthews from Northeastern University, develop a simulation model that estimates how many Massachusetts residents need and take a leave to cope with a serious illness, pregnancy or a new child. The study finds, for instance, that about 12 percent of Massachusetts workers take a medical or family leave annually, but about a quarter of them take a shorter leave than they need and a slightly larger number of workers who need leave do not take it. Most other industrialized countries and four U.S. states have found another way. California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and (starting in 2018) New York use insurance-style programs that replace a portion of workers' wages. This enables workers to take time off to address a serious personal or family health condition or to care for a new child. MassBudget's new fact sheet What We Can Learn from Other States' Experiences with Paid Family and Medical Leave examines evidence on the impact of these programs on families and businesses. Current Statewide Paid Family and Medical Leave Programs Weeks of Family Leave Weeks of Own-Health Leave (incl. pregnancy) Maximum Wage Replacement California 6 52 55% New Jersey 6 26 66% Rhode Island 4 30 60% New York 8 (rising to 12 by 2021) 26 50% (rising to 67% by 2021) You can read MassBudget's short explainers on how workers in Massachusetts currently cope (HERE) and the experience of other states (HERE). See also MassBudget's previous fact sheet sorting out how PFML differs from other related policies (HERE) and our FAQ: Paid Family & Medical Leave (HERE). You can also read the complete recent report by economists Randy Albelda and Alan Clayton-Matthews issued by UMass Boston's Center for Social Policy and Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy (HERE). The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

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