Massachusetts Paid Leave Coalition

About the Massachusetts Paid Leave Coalition

The Massachusetts Paid Leave Coalition “Coalition” directed by Greater Boston Legal Services in collaboration with the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action, is a coalition of over 60 local advocates, community organizations, labor unions, businesses, policy makers, doctors, researchers and policy and data experts working in collaboration to educate the public and policymakers about the critical need for policies that provide all workers with access to paid leave, specifically paid sick days, which help low-wage workers stay employed, build assets, and enhance the well-being of their children and families.  

The Coalition is a founding member group of Family Values@Work: a Multi-State Consortium that brings together 11 state coalitions working to expand access to paid leave in order to change public policies at the state and federal level and influence a new progressive direction for this county.  

The Mass. Paid Leave Coalition evolved from and has built on the work of the former Women's Statewide Legislative Network (WSLN), a grassroots organization founded by former welfare recipients.  To continue WSLN’s work, the Coalition decided to concentrate efforts on a particular systemic policy issue that had the greatest immediate impact on the work/family struggles of workers in low-wage jobs, which led to the campaign to secure paid sick days.

Everyone gets sick, but 1.4 million Massachusetts workers in the private sector do not have a single paid sick day.  For workers that do have paid sick days, only 30% of workers are able to use paid sick days to care for sick children, and even fewer are able to use paid sick leave to care for other relatives.   No family should have to choose between their family and their work.  We need new workplace standards to meet the needs of real families today.  

For victims of domestic violence, paid sick days are often critical to survival.  More than 9 in 10 victims of domestic violence experience some kind of work-related problem due to that violence, victims may need to take time off from work to participate in criminal and civil legal proceedings and to address the effects of domestic violence such as relocating their family and obtaining medical care.

These policies aren't a favor to women but contribute to economic security, are good for individual and public health, and are good for business.