Dear Western MA Legislative Delegation,
Many of you talked with us at the Public Health Institute of Western MA a couple of weeks ago about statewide equity priorities in light of the Coronavirus, and one of those was Emergency Paid Sick Time.
We support the bill that was filed last week, HD 5039, sponsored by Rep. Donato, and in the Senate, SD 2918 filed by Sen Lewis. The bill fills in the gaps in the emergency federal legislation (Families First Coronavirus Response Act [FFCRA]). It does this by providing 10 additional work-days (80 hours) of job-protected paid sick time for use during COVID-19.
We are writing to:
1.
Thank you if you have already signed on as a co-sponsor
of this legislation. At this point 66 House members and 11 Senators are already signed on.
2.
If you have not signed on as a co-sponsor yet, we urge you to
. The deadline for the Senate is rolling, but the co-sponsorship deadline for the House is next Friday, May 1.
The bill fills the following gaps in the federal legislation:
1. The MA Emergency Paid Sick Time Act applies to employees working for private employers with less than 500 employees
2. The MA bill covers employees working at health care or residential facilities that opt out from FFCRA.
This bill applies to people needing sick time for themselves or a family member diagnosed with COVID-19.
