RESPECTED FRIEND STJEPAN

Here's something a lot of people don't realize:

Just five years before we moved into the White House, Michelle and I were still paying off our student loans. Which means that, as a student, I knew how it felt both to dream of a fine education and to worry about paying for it. Decades later, as President, I know that our country can't afford for talented young Americans to miss out on a higher education. College is one of the most important investments students can make in their future. It's also one of the most important investments our country can make in our workforce -- as every one of us is acutely aware, equipping Americans with the knowledge and skills they need to compete and win in our global economy will continue to be the key to our resurgence. That's why we're continuing to work to make the dream of college real for more of America's students. And we're making progress. We've increased investments in college scholarships like Pell Grants and the American Opportunity Tax Credit. We're making student loans more affordable by cutting interest rates and capping payments at 10 percent of income. We're promoting competition and innovation to bring costs down for students and their families. I’m proud of that progress. But our bright young people considering college need to hear from each other, too. And so, as everyone heads back to school over the next several days, you'll be hearing from your fellow Americans -- at various stages in their own educations -- about what's worked for them. They'll share their own advice with you, and your kids.

Meanwhile, senior officials from across the Administration will be hitting the road to discuss our plans to create more affordable, quality choices for students -- such as community colleges and apprenticeships -- and to give students the time and information they need to make good choices. Tomorrow, I'll travel with my favorite community college professor -- Dr. Jill Biden -- to Macomb County Community College, where I first laid out my community college plan six years ago. While in Michigan, I'll make an announcement about apprenticeships, a crucial tool we're using to rebuild an American workforce that is the envy of the world. And I'll talk about the progress around the country in making community college free, and what more we need to do to make it available for more students. Next Monday, I'll meet up with Secretary Duncan -- who will be traveling the country in a bus all week long -- at a high school in Des Moines, Iowa where I'm looking forward to having a conversation with juniors and seniors gearing up for college as well as with their parents who, in many cases, are trying to figure out how to pay for it. And on Thursday, September 17th, as part of her Reach Higher initiative, Michelle will head to a local community college to check out their career and technical programs. You'll be able to follow along with all of it right here. The students I hear from every day remind me that if we can come together around the idea that every American -- no matter where they grew up, or how much money their parents have -- deserves a quality education and a shot at success, then we can build a future as remarkable as our past. Stay tuned -- you'll be hearing from us (and one another) again soon...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYXyYFzP4Lc

FACT SHEET: Helping Middle-Class Families Get Ahead by Expanding Paid Sick Leave

“We are the only advanced country on Earth that doesn’t guarantee paid sick leave or paid maternity leave to our workers. . . . And that forces too many parents to make the gut-wrenching choice between a paycheck and a sick kid at home.”

 – President Barack Obama, State of the Union Address, January 20, 2015

In most families today, both parents work and have responsibilitiescaring for their children, aging parents, or family members withdisabilities.  Yet the fundamental structure of work has not keptpace with the changing American family, and many families arestruggling to balance obligations at home and on the job. As aresult, too many workers are unable to take the time they need torecover from an illness. Many workers will go to work sick, puttingtheir coworkers and customers at risk of illness. Many parents areforced to choose between taking an unpaid day off work—losingmuch needed income and potentially threatening their jobs—andsending a sick child who should be home in bed to school.

Today, the President will sign an Executive Order requiring federalcontractors to offer their employees up to seven days of paid sickleave per year.  He will travel to Boston to renew his call onCongress to pass legislation expanding paid sick and family leave, and announce new Department of Labor rules giving federalcontract workers new tools to demand equal pay. Last November,Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly approved a new paid sickleave law that went into effect statewide on July 1, and in April theBoston City Council passed an ordinance creating six weeks of paid parental leave for City of Boston employees.

Today’s actions build on a number of previous steps taken by thePresident to expand access to paid leave. In January, he issued aPresidential Memorandum directing the federal government to advance up to six weeks of paid sick leave in connection with thebirth or adoption of a child, or for other sick leave eligible uses, and called on Congress to pass legislation giving federal employees six additional weeks of paid parental leave. The President’s FY 2016 budget also includes over $2 billion in funds to encourage states toestablish paid family and medical leave programs that would ensurenew parents can stay home to care for their children and allow forcaregiving leave like eldercare or self-care related to a seriousillness.

EXPANDING SICK LEAVE AND OTHER ACTIONS FOR WORKERS

1.      Guaranteeing Sick Leave for Federal Contract Workers: Anestimated 44 million private sector workers – about 40 percent ofthe total private-sector workforce – do not have access to paid sickleave.  Low- and middle-income workers are much less likely tohave paid sick leave than high-income workers. While roughly 60 percent of workers are eligible under the Family and Medical LeaveAct (FMLA) to take unpaid, job-protected leave for family andmedical reasons for more extended absences, many workers are without coverage for shorter-term health care needs and othersmay not be able to afford to stay home sick if it means the loss ofpay.

Just as importantly, a body of research shows that offering paid sickdays and paid family leave can benefit employers by reducingturnover and increasing productivity.  Paid sick days would helpreduce lost productivity due to the spread of illness in theworkplace. These policies can benefit our economy by fostering a more productive workforce.

For this reason, it is no surprise that many businesses see thebenefit of employees earning sick days. Many private sectoremployers have voluntarily changed their policies to expand paidleave for their employees, and in some cases, even for employees of their contractors and vendors. A survey of employers in Connecticut, which passed a law in 2011 requiring many employersto allow workers to earn sick leave, found that most businessesreported “no effects or modest effects of the new law on the bottomline.”

The Executive Order the President will sign today will:

·         Give approximately 300,000 people working on federalcontracts the new ability to earn up to seven days of paid sick leaveeach year. Additional workers will gain access to more sick leavethan they had before. Beginning with new contracts in 2017, workerswill earn a minimum of one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked (though contractors would be free to offer moregenerous amounts at their discretion);

·         Allow workers to use paid sick leave to care for themselves,a family member, such as a child, parent, spouse, or domestic partner, or another loved one, as well as for absences resultingfrom domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking;

·         Improve the health and performance of employees of federalcontractors and bring benefits packages offered by federalcontractors in line with leading firms, ensuring they remaincompetitive in the search for dedicated and talented employees;and

·         Protect the public health of employees of federal contractors,their customers, and clients by ensuring employees are allowed to stay home when they have communicable diseases.

2.      Calling on Congress to Expand Leave to Millions More Workers: In addition to issuing today’s Executive Order, thePresident is renewing his call for Congress to pass the HealthyFamilies Act, which would require all businesses with 15 or moreemployees to offer up to 7 paid sick days each year.  He is calling for the passage of federal legislation guaranteeing every working American paid family and medical leave to care for a new child, aseriously ill family member, or their own serious illness.  TheFAMILY Act is one such proposal.  Additionally, the President is calling on states and cities to follow the example of Massachusettsand other leaders and pass similar laws expanding paid leave. TheDepartment of Labor is also releasing a report, “The Cost of DoingNot hing ,” that explores the costs to workers, families, businesses,and the nation of not taking action to expand paid family andmedical leave to millions of workers without it today.

3.      Strengthening Rights to Equal Pay: Women are the primarybreadwinners in 40 percent of U.S. children, but the typical woman makes about 78 percent of what the typical man makes – which means less for families’ everyday needs, less for investments in our children’s futures, and, when added over a lifetime of work, substantially less for retirement. The President is announcing that this week the Department of Labor will publish a final rule prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating against employees and job applicants who choose to discuss their compensation.  The rule – issued under an April 2014 Executive Order – does not compel workers to discuss pay. However, it provides a critical tool to encourage pay transparency, and make it easier for workers to recognize pay discrimination and seek appropriate remedies.

BUILDING ON A RECORD OF GROWING THE MIDDLE CLASS

Providing families the security of paid leave is just one piece of thePresident’s plan to support America’s workers and grow the middleclass. The President believes that all Americans should have theopportunity to succeed in our global economy and all workingfamilies should be able to afford the cornerstones of economicsecurity. Middle class economics has helped to make Americastronger over the past six years, with our businesses creating 13.1million new jobs over a record 66 straight months of job growth.President Obama is pursuing policies that will ensure a growingeconomy — one with opportunities for employment, higher wages,higher incomes, fairer pay for women, workplace flexibility forparents, affordable health insurance, and adequate retirementbenefits.

Overtime

·         In June, the President announced that the Department of Laborwould propose extending  overtime pay protections to almost 5million workers through a rule that would entitle most salariedworkers earning less than a projected $50,400 next year to the FairLabor Standards Act’s overtime protections.  The proposed rule willprevent a future erosion of overtime rights and ensure greaterpredictability by automatically updating the salary threshold in the future. It will help promote higher take-home pay and allow workersto better balance their work and family obligations. In so doing, itwill help shore up the middle class and provide an easier pathwayfor those aspiring to share in the standard of living it affords.

Higher Wages

·         President Obama has called on Congress to raise the nationalminimum wage, and took action by signing an Executive Order toraise the minimum wage to $10.10 for workers on covered federalcontracts.  Since early 2013, when the President first called for aminimum wage increase, 17 states and the District of Columbia havepassed increases to their minimum wage, which benefit anestimated 7 million workers as of 2017.  Many other cities and localities, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and Louisville, have alsopassed minimum wage increases, while businesses across thecountry have taken steps on their own to raise wages for theirworkers.

Tax Cuts for the Middle Class

·         In his first term, President Obama cut taxes for the averagemiddle-class family by

$3,600.  The American Taxpayer Relief Act, which PresidentObama signed into law in 2012, permanently lowered income tax rates for 98 percent of American workers.

·         President Obama enacted improvements to the Earned IncomeTax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) that are helping 16million working families make ends meet, and he continues to fightto make them permanent.

College Affordability

·         Over the past six years, the President and Congress haveprovided millions of low- income and middle class families acrossthe country access to college by increasing the maximum Pell Grantaward by $1,000, and total funding by 70 percent.

·         Families putting a child through college became eligible for asmuch as $10,000 of additional help over four years from thePresident’s American Opportunity Tax Credit, the equivalent of nearly a 30-percent discount on tuition at a typical state university.

·         Taken together, these scholarships will provide students andfamilies $50 billion in aid next year to help them afford college.

Equal Pay

·         The first bill President Obama signed into law was the LillyLedbetter Fair Pay  Restoration Act, which empowers women torecover wages lost to discrimination by extending the time period in which an employee can file a claim. The President continues toadvocate for passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act, common senselegislation that would give women additional tools to fight paydiscrimination.

·         In April 2014, the President signed two executive actionsstrengthening equal pay laws: the Executive Order behind thisweek’s final rule prohibiting federal contractors from discriminatingagainst employees and job applicants who choose to discuss theircompensation, and a Presidential Memorandum instructing theSecretary of Labor to propose a rule requiring federal contractors tosubmit summary data on compensation paid to their employees and to use such data to enhance enforcement.

Workplace Flexibility

·         In June 2014, the White House held the first-ever Summit onWorking Families, elevating a national conversation about makingtoday’s workplaces work for everyone, and signed a PresidentialMemorandum to enhance workplace flexibilities and work-lifebalances for federal employees.

Promoting Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces

·         In July 2014, President Obama signed an Executive Order thathelps agencies better take into account prospective federalcontractors’ records of compliance with key labor and employmentlaws when awarding contracts.  It also ensures that federal contractworkers are given the necessary information each pay period toverify the accuracy of their paycheck, and that workers who mayhave been sexually assaulted or had their civil rights violated gettheir day in court by putting an end to certain mandatory arbitrationagreements.

Affordable Health Insurance

·         Five years ago, the Affordable Care Act became law — opening the doors to affordable, quality health insurance for millionsof people. Today:

• More than 16 million Americans have gained health coverage,
• Up to 30 million young adults can no longer be denied coverageor charged higher premiums for a pre-existing condition,
• 105 million Americans no longer have a lifetime limit on their health coverage,
• 137 million Americans are guaranteed preventive care coverage,and
• The nation’s uninsured rate now stands at its lowest level ever.

Security in Retirement

·         In February 2015, the Department of Labor published aproposed rule protecting retirement savers by ensuring thatinvestment advisors are free from conflicts that prevent them fromacting in the best interests of their clients.  This is a commonsenserule that protects those saving for retirement from being steeredinto investments that are in their advisors’ financial interest but nottheirs.

President Barack Obama

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