buzzz worthy. . .
President Obama has just announced a massive gift to federal contractors and subcontractors this Labor Day. He has signed an Executive Order requiring federal contractors to pay their employees sick leave to attend to the most common personal and family affairs. The action will allow one hour of paid time off for every 30 hours worked. Obama's more flexible workforce policies encompass one of the most common concerns of federal workers taking time off, maternity leave.
The Executive Order specifies the new policy is "effective immediately and shall apply to covered contracts where the solicitation for such contract has been issued, or the contract has been awarded outside the solicitation process, on or after January 1, 2017."
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| Obama speaks at GREATER BOSTON LABOR COUNCIL LABORDAY BREAKFAST (Andrew Harnik/AP) |
President Obama has just announced a massive gift to federal contractors and subcontractors this Labor Day. He has signed an Executive Order requiring federal contractors to pay their employees sick leave to attend to the most common personal and family affairs. The action will allow one hour of paid time off for every 30 hours worked. Obama's more flexible workforce policies encompass one of the most common concerns of federal workers taking time off, maternity leave.
On Monday morning, a sign behind the stage where he spoke at the GREATER BOSTON LABOR COUNCIL LABOR
DAY BREAKFAST read "Workers and Community, United for a Stronger Future” hung behind the main stage. Obama put his reason for the policy change into global perspective, while showing sensitivity to working mothers, stating: "Right now, we are the only advanced nation on Earth that does
not guarantee paid maternity leave. Think about
that. (Applause.) You had -- one study found that nearly one in four
working moms return to work within two weeks of childbirth. Think about
that. Now, for the men in the audience in particular, think about
that. We wouldn’t even go to work if we had
to carry around somebody for nine months. The human race would
evaporate. We couldn’t even take it. (Laughter and applause.) And
then the notion that after you had that baby you had to go back to work
two weeks later. . ."The Executive Order specifies the new policy is "effective immediately and shall apply to covered contracts where the solicitation for such contract has been issued, or the contract has been awarded outside the solicitation process, on or after January 1, 2017."