I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1516 
To allow Americans to earn paid sick time so that they can address their 
own health needs and the health needs of their families. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 13, 2017 
Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. ESTY, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. 
ESHOO, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. 
DELANEY, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. TAKANO, 
Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. MEEKS, 
Mr. LYNCH, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. 
COHEN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsyl-
vania, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. KILMER, Ms. 
BONAMICI, Ms. TITUS, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. PERLMUTTER, 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. GABBARD, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. BERA, 
Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA´N of New Mexico, Mr. 
AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. WALZ, Mrs. DAVIS of 
California, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. NADLER, Mr. GUTIE´RREZ, 
Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. MOORE, 
Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. GARAMENDI, Ms. MATSUI, 
Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRIS-
HAM of New Mexico, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. FRANKEL of Flor-
ida, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of 
New York, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. 
POCAN, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. TONKO, Ms. NORTON, 
Ms. DELBENE, Miss RICE of New York, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. ELLISON, 
Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. BEYER, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mrs. WATSON COLE-
MAN, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. MENG, Ms. 
JACKSON LEE, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. POLIS, 
Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. NOLAN, Mr. ENGEL, 
Mr. FOSTER, Mr. THOMPSON
of California, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. 
LOWENTHAL, Mr. PETERS, Mr. EVANS, Ms. LEE, Mr. KIHUEN, Mr. 
PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. RUIZ, Ms. 
FUDGE, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. HIGGINS of New 
York, and Ms. SHEA-PORTER) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition 
to the Committees on House Administration, and Oversight and Govern-
ment Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
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in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To allow Americans to earn paid sick time so that they 
can address their own health needs and the health needs 
of their families. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Healthy Families Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Working people need time to meet their own 
health care needs and to care for family members. 
The absence of paid sick time has forced working 
people to make untenable choices between needed in-
come and jobs on the one hand and caring for their 
own and their family’s health on the other. It is in 
the national interest to ensure that all working peo-
ple can care for their own health and the health of 
their families while prospering at work. 
(2) Thirty-six percent of the private sector 
workforce and 10 percent of the public sector work-
force, lacks paid sick time. Millions more theoreti-
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cally have access to sick time, but have not been on 
the job long enough to use it. Millions more lack sick 
time they can use to care for a sick child or ill fam-
ily member. 
(3) Working people without paid sick days are 
more likely to go to work sick and delay or forgo 
needed health care. A 2016 study in the journal 
Health Affairs found that working adults without 
paid sick days are 3 times more likely to forgo med-
ical care for themselves, and 1.6 times more likely 
to forgo medical care for their family, compared to 
working adults with paid sick days. Lack of paid 
sick days is also a barrier to receiving cancer 
screenings and preventive care, according to a 2012 
study published by BioMed Central Public Health. 
(4) Nearly one in four parents without paid sick 
time reports sending a sick child to school or child 
care because the parent has to go to work. When 
children go to school and child care sick, they risk 
their own health and that of other children, teachers 
and administrators. Research suggests that schools 
play a key role in transmitting contagious illnesses 
like influenza. 
(5) A 2012 study published in the American 
Journal of Public Health found that a lack of work-
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