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Millions of workers could lose access to paid sick and family leave if Congress does not pass another coronavirus relief package by the end of the year, Politico reported on Sunday.
Up to 87 million workers could be denied the benefit lawmakers approved earlier this year, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families. A breach of the measure could increase the hardships many workers already face in the winter as new cases of the virus blanket the United States.
The Families First Act that Congress passed in March contained a provision requiring employers to provide their employees seeking medical care or quarantine two weeks of sick pay. It also included 12 weeks of medical and family leave at two-thirds of their current salary.
Experts previously told Markets Insider that the measure covers around half of the US workforce. But it expires on December 31, and Democrats are calling for it to be extended to next year.
“Letting this policy expire would put millions of workers at risk of having to make the impossible choice between their health and their paycheck, and undermine our recovery efforts,” said Senator Patty Murray of Washington, Senate Democrat on Health , Education, Committee on Work and Pensions, told Politico.
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The benefit is about to end with a slew of other federal protections, including a moratorium on evictions, postponed student loan repayments, and unemployment assistance for nearly 12 million unemployed Americans. These expiring federal provisions could amplify the hardships many Americans face this winter amid an outbreak of virus cases.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease specialist, warned of another spike in infections on Sunday after millions of Americans travel for the Thanksgiving holiday.
“We can see a boom,” Fauci told ABC News. “We don’t want to scare people, but that’s just the reality.”
Congress has not approved another coronavirus relief package since the spring, and many economists are pressuring lawmakers to pass another and contain the economic damage from the pandemic.
They say it threatens to slow or even reverse the lukewarm recovery. Only half of the 22 million jobs lost in March and April have been found so far.
Unemployment claims rose for the second week in a row, the Labor Ministry said Thursday. More than 20 million Americans are still receiving some form of unemployment benefits almost nine months after the start of the pandemic.
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