To: Governor Andrew Cuomo

Pass the New York Paid Family Leave Act!

Victory! The creator of this petition declared the campaign a success. You can still sign the petition to show support.

Please support the Paid Family Leave Insurance Act. Working New Yorkers need the security of paid leave to care for a new child or seriously ill family member. Improve the health and financial stability of working families by providing all New Yorkers with paid family leave for a full 12 weeks.

Why is this important?

Working families across New York State need the security of paid time off to care for a new child or seriously ill family member. For too many workers, the birth of a child or family health emergency creates a crisis that forces them to lose needed income or exit the workforce altogether. Low-income workers and their families are especially vulnerable because they often lack the financial resources to take any unpaid time off at all.

Paid family leave improves the health of our families. It helps workers, especially new mothers, stay in the workforce after childbirth and helps close the wage gap. And businesses benefit by having more productive workers and reduced turnover.

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act is unpaid and excludes more than 40% of all workers. The Paid Family Leave Insurance Act for New York State would provide workers with partial payment of their salary for up to 12 weeks to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill family member, or address certain issues arising from a family member’s military service. Employers would not bear the cost of this benefit. Instead, paid family leave insurance benefits would be funded by employees through small paycheck contributions.

Working families in New York deserve better. It’s time for Governor Cuomo to follow in California’s, New Jersey’s, and Rhode Island's footsteps and make paid family leave a priority now!

You can learn more about the bill and campaign here: http://abetterbalance.org/web/nyneedspfl

And read more about A Better Balance’s efforts to advance the rights of working families at www.abetterbalance.org.