VOA慢速英语2015 Will the US Pay Workers for Family Leave?

Will the US Pay Workers for Family Leave?

The United States does not require businesses to pay workers who are sick or caring for a new baby. President Obama and some other U.S. lawmakers want to change time off – or leave – policies. Supporters say paid leave is the right thing to do. Opponents say it will kill economic growth.

Recently a woman named Jenny Cheek became pregnant¹ while she worked for the U.S. government in Washington, DC. She planned to take a few months off work to have and care for the new baby. She was surprised to learn her job would not pay her for the time off.

The U.S. federal government – like most American businesses – does not offer paid family leave to have a baby or care for family members. The federal government does, however, give workers a few weeks of paid vacation time every year.

So, instead of using her vacation time to go to the beach or go camping, Ms. Cheek did what many Americans do: she used her vacation time to stay home with her newborn.

After that, she used what is called leave without pay. In other words, she did not lose her job, but she did not earn any money either.

In the end, Ms. Cheek and her husband decided² they would support their family on his paycheck alone. Jenny Cheek became a stay-at-home mom.

"(You) fixed³ the tire. Driving a dump truck -- that's hard work."

She says she loves to play trucks all day with her child. But she wonders why the U.S. cannot find a way to help people balance work with caring for a family.

"Almost every other country in the world has figured out a way to make this happen. There’s no way I could have been an attentive⁴ mom, a dedicated⁵ mom, in the same way if I was worried every single day about how I was going to pay the bills."

In 2014, the United Nations reported that Papua New Guinea and the U.S. are the only two -- out of 185 -- countries in the world that do not offer workers paid time off to care for newborns. However, several state governments and some private businesses in the U.S. have provided the benefits for their workers.

Another cost to companies

Not every American agrees that requiring businesses to pay workers for leave is a good idea.

Tricia Baldwin is a business woman. She is secretary and treasurer⁶ for her family's company. Reliable Contracting has been operating successfully for more than 80 years. She says paid leave is simply another government order, or mandate⁷, that adds more costs to doing business.

"It's just adding another cost, another mandate to the company."

Ms. Baldwin’s company employs 400 workers. She says giving all of them paid leave would ruin her company. Instead, Reliable Contracting gives paid leave to employees who have stayed with the company for at least five years.

"We've been around for 80, over 85 years. We like to take care of our employees and make sure that they are successful.”

President Obama calls for change

President Obama supports paid leave for workers. Recently, he proposed a measure called the Healthy Family Act. It would allow workers to earn up to seven paid days of sick leave a year to care for themselves or family members.

Mr. Obama also wants Congress to approve a measure giving all workers six weeks of paid leave to have and care for a new baby.

U.S. lawmakers who support the proposed measure say paid leave is good for the families and for businesses. Representative Don Beyer says paid leave is an incentive⁸ to parents to return to the job. Mr. Beyer says training a new employee can cost a company a year’s worth of income.

But U.S. lawmakers who oppose the bill say they do not want to restrict businesses by requiring them to provide paid leave. They are offering a different measure. The Working Families Flexibility⁹ Act would allow employees to work extra hours and earn either time off or more pay.

What do other countries do?

The U.S. Department of Labor¹⁰ also supports changing paid leave policies.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez published an article on his department’s website. He says the U.S. needs to learn from other countries.

Secretary Perez writes that Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Brazil guarantee between 15 and 24 weeks of paid leave for mothers with newborns. Some countries also offer other benefits such as paid leave for fathers to care for children.  

Words in This Story

family leave – n. a leave of absence from a job for a parent to care for a new baby

newborn – n. a person or animal that has been recently born; newborn can also be used as an adjective

time off – n. time for rest or recreation away from one's usual work or studies

mandate – n. an official order to do something

incentive – n. something that encourages a person to do something or to work harder

1 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

4 attentive   

adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的

参考例句：

• She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。
• The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

5 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

6 treasurer   

n.司库，财务主管

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith was succeeded by Mrs.Jones as treasurer.琼斯夫人继史密斯先生任会计。
• The treasurer was arrested for trying to manipulate the company's financial records.财务主管由于试图窜改公司财政帐目而被拘留。

7 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

8 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

9 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

10 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。