Caregiver leave law goes into effect in Minnesota
Here’s an excerpt from an op-ed piece about the new law:
Rick Hansen was a state employee some years ago whose good health had allowed him to accrue a number of unused “sick days.” But when he wanted to use that time to take his ailing mother to the doctor, his request was denied. “Sick time” was for his own medical needs or those of his dependent children — no one else, he was told.
As state Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, he set out to change that response. The bill he sponsored to expand the use of accrued sick time for family care became law on Aug. 1. Accrued “sick days” provided by a Minnesota employer of 20 or more workers can now be used to care for the medical needs of a child of any age or a spouse, sibling, parent, grandparent or stepparent.
Hansen’s first stab at expanding the use of sick days for family caregiving met with then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto in 2009, he said last week. It took four years to revive the bill. When he did, he was pleased to find that support for the notion had crossed the partisan aisle sufficiently to win 99 of 134 votes in the House and an ample majority in the Senate.
Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
For more information on family caregiving and the aging population, visit the website of the Family Caregiver Alliance.