Obama to renew push for paid leave for working parents

Thursday, January 15, 2015 | 4:23 AM    

WASHINGTON (AP) — Renewing a push for paid leave for workers, President Barack Obama on Thursday will call on Congress, states and cities to pass measures to allow millions of workers to earn up to a week of paid sick time a year, the White House said.

He’ll also ask Congress for more than US$2 billion in new spending to encourage states to create paid family and medical leave programs.

In addition, Obama will take steps to provide federal employees with up to six weeks of paid sick leave to care for a new child. And he’ll propose that Congress pass legislation to give federal workers an additional six weeks of paid parental leave.

Details on how Obama would raise the US$2 billion to help states will be released in the president’s budget proposal next month, senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said Wednesday.

Obama wants Congress to pass legislation that has been sponsored since 2005 by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., to allow workers to earn up to seven days, or 56 hours, of paid sick leave to care for themselves or a sick family member, obtain preventive care or deal with domestic violence. Under the Healthy Families Act, workers would earn an hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours they work. Employers that already provide paid sick time would not have to change their policies as long as the time earned can be used for the same purposes.

Obama will also call on states and cities to adopt similar legislation; some already have, as the White House noted in a fact sheet.

More than 40 million U.S. private sector workers don’t have any type of paid sick leave, Jarrett said, meaning they lose pay if they stay home when sick or to care for someone who is.

Jarrett said paid sick leave would help the U.S. become more competitive by helping to reduce worker turnover and contributing to worker productivity.

“This is not a partisan issue,” she said. “This is a family issue and it’s an economic issue.”

Obama will also outline ways to broaden access to paid family and medical leave. Under the 1993 federal Family and Medical Leave Act, workers may take up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off without losing their job to care for a new child, recover from an illness or care for an ill family member. The White House says most families cannot afford such long stretches of time off without pay.

Three states — California, New Jersey and Rhode Island — offer paid family and medical leave. To encourage others to follow, Obama will propose US$2.2 billion in new spending to reimburse up to five states for three years for the actual and administrative costs associated with implementing similar programs.

With regard to the federal workforce, Obama will propose legislation providing six weeks of paid administrative leave for the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child. Federal workers receive paid sick leave and vacation time, but no paid time off specifically for family or parental leave. Under the proposal, federal workers could use sick time to care for a healthy child after birth or adoption.

Obama also planned to direct federal agencies to advance six weeks of paid sick leave that federal workers could use as paid family leave, something agencies can do if they decide to, said Obama economic adviser Betsey Stevenson. Workers would be required to pay back the sick leave over time.

DeLauro and women’s groups applauded the coming announcement.

“Workplaces need to respond to the reality of family life in the 21st century, and allowing employees to have seven sick days a year is a bare minimum,” DeLauro said. “The fact that the United States is one of just a handful of countries that does not require paid family or sick leave is nothing short of shameful.”

The chances that lawmakers will send DeLauro’s bill to Obama in the next two years appear slim to none, given that the congresswoman first introduced the bill a decade ago.

But Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, said the announcement amounts to the “boldest action” in support of family-friendly workplace polices in a generation.

“This is fantastic news for workers, families and our economy,” she said.

The announcement follows up on a White House Summit on Working Families the president held last June in Washington, Jarrett said. It will also be the latest in a series of near-daily previews by Obama of initiatives geared toward the middle class and working families that he plans to highlight in next Tuesday’s nationally televised State of the Union address.

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Obama to renew push for paid leave for working parents

Working with pop acts a Honorebel move

KINGSTON, Jamaica — It has become the norm for pop artistes from different genres to collaborate on what oftentimes become mega-hit songs.

For South Florida-based Jamaican singjay Honorebel, who has worked in dancehall, reggae and electronica, such a strategy is a winner keen on establishing a diverse following.“It is important for any reggae/dancehall artiste to collaborate with artistes in a different genre because it increases your fan base, shows your versatility as an artiste and strengthens reggae music,” he explained.Honorebel’s latest song, Seize the Night, is a collaboration with Cuban-American rapper Pitbull, a formidable figure in hip hop. It was recently released digitally by Zojak Distributors.The duo previously teamed up on the song, Now You See Me, which made the charts in a number of countries.That type of exposure, says Honorebel, has been invaluable.“It helped me gain global recognition, build my brand and also gave me the opportunity to travel and perform at the Moscow MTV Music Awards, Isle of MTV in Malta with over 50,000 people in attendance and landed some major motion picture placements such as Piranha 3D and American Reunion (American Pie 3).”Dancehall/reggae acts have had similar experience working with American pop stars. Sean Paul had a massive hit in Baby Boy, done with Beyonce.Bounty Killer and Lady Saw recorded Hey Baby and Underneath it All, respectively, with No Doubt. Both songs made the Billboard pop chart.  Singer Junior Reid also won a new generation of fans when he worked with rappers The Game and MIMS.Honorebel, who first met Pitbull while they were budding artistes at rap impresario Luther ‘Luke’ Campbell’s Florida camp, is already on board for another collaboration.His song with rapper FloRida is expected to be released this year.Howard Campbell

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Working with pop acts a Honorebel move

No 10: "Go home" posters are working

29 July 2013 Last updated at 07:39 ET The vans drove around Barnet, Hounslow, Barking and Dagenham, Ealing, Brent and Redbridge The use of vans with adverts urging illegal immigrants to “go home or face arrest” are working, No 10 says.

The PM’s official spokesman said David Cameron disagreed with Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable’s view that the scheme was “stupid and offensive”.

The spokesman said the Home Office was “clear that this is already working”.

He did not give figures on levels of response but said the Home Office was “looking at what they can take forward” from the London pilot scheme.

The Home Office say the van pilot had only ended on Sunday so were not sure “what figures have been collated at this point”.

The pilot scheme saw vans driven through Barnet, Hounslow, Barking and Dagenham, Ealing, Brent and Redbridge featuring the “go home” posters – which had a text number illegal immigrants were encouraged to use to arrange their departure.

Leaflets, posters and messages in local newspapers were also used carrying the same message.

The pilot scheme cost just under £10,000, which is cheaper than forcibly removing someone. That process costs about £15,000, according to the Home Office.

The use of the vans have been widely criticised – Brent’s council leader Muhammed Butt said the plan was an “act of desperation” and that more needed to be done to process people’s claims.

He added it would “just drive people underground”.

Mr Cable told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday: “It was stupid and offensive. I think it is very unlikely it will continue.”

He questioned whether illegal immigrants would have enough of a “sophisticated grasp of English” to be able to read the posters on the vans at a distance.

Vince Cable called the scheme “stupid and offensive”

“It is designed, apparently, to sort of create a sense of fear (in the) British population that we have a vast problem with illegal immigration,” he said.

“We have a problem but it’s not a vast one. It’s got to be dealt with in a measured way dealing with the underlying causes.”

The Home Office said the scheme was an alternative to criminal procedures and the areas were chosen because they had either significantly higher or below average numbers of voluntary returns.

It said voluntary returns were the most cost-effective way of removing illegal immigrants and saving the taxpayer money.

Councils were not consulted as it is an immigration policy which does not require local consent, it added.

The Downing Street spokesman said the government would wait until final information on the pilots was available before deciding whether to extend the scheme nationwide.

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No 10: "Go home" posters are working