Paid Leave for All Is a Win-Win For Businesses and for Workers

Aug. 10, Colorado Springs, CO — It was an honor to participate in yesterday’s Paid Leave for All event in Colorado Springs, and to be in the company of so many people, representing so many organizations that have fought for decades to bring to the United States something that is in place in every other country in the world (with exception of Papua New Guinea).

It was beyond exciting to hear Representative Matt Grey talk about how things are progressing here in Colorado with standing up our program, after passing the first ever ballot initiative (Proposition 118) to create a paid leave program this past November! It also afforded me the opportunity to reflect on how we got here, and what will be required to ensure every business owner and worker in the country has access to an adequate, affordable, and accessible paid leave program.

I was pregnant myself when we first began working on paid family and medical leave. Ensuring everyone has time to care for themselves or their loved ones was always something that made sense to me, but after giving birth, I realized just how inhumane it is to expect a mother to return to work within weeks or even days of bringing a child into the world. Needless to say, when 9to5 — the organization that has anchored the fight for paid leave here in Colorado for decades — approached Good Business Colorado about working on the paid family and medical leave campaign I was elated. But more importantly, our members were all in!

Beyond the morality of paid leave, there is a strong business case for the benefit. Comprehensive programs like the one passed here in Colorado are essential for leveling the playing field by providing all businesses with a low-cost benefit that decreases turnover and increases employee productivity, loyalty and morale. From our sole proprietors to our members who employ hundreds of people and especially our businesses in slim margin industries — we consistently heard that a paid leave program would be a game changer. That’s why I was joined by Good Business Colorado member Peri Bolts, owner of Eclectic CO, to speak at the event on why a paid leave program is so important to her business success, and why we had 200+ businesses across the state sign-on in support of Proposition 118.

I am hopeful we will see a national paid leave program put in place as part of our economic recovery because as the saying goes, "Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come," and there is no question that the time is now to give business owners and employees across the nation the ability to take care of themselves and their loved ones without risking financial ruin.

Visit PaidLeaveforAll.org and follow Paid Leave for All on Instagram and Twitter for more information on the bus tour and on ways to get involved in winning paid family and medical leave for all.

The views and opinions expressed by the authors of this series are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of New America.

Debra Brown is the Executive Director and Founding Member at Good Business Colorado.