Unlock the Power of Electronic Signature Legitimateness for Sick Leave Policy

How to eSign a document: electronic signature legitimateness for Sick Leave Policy

all right well good morning everyone I want to say thank you to Ashley Nita spile and the whole team here at the narrative project for hosting this very impactful Bill signing that we are having today our state has been so proud to lead the way on one of the most comprehensive paid leave programs in the country that's creating a working environment where everyone can succeed for women paid leave has been incredibly beneficial and has made our state one of the most familyfriendly states in the country and here in our state we are no longer penalizing women for taking time away after giving birth or to take care of a loved one so we've been a longstanding leader when it comes to supporting workers especially female workers before our paid leave program uh in 2011 Connecticut became the first state in the country to require that certain employers provide employees with 40 hours of paid sick time per year but since we did that in 2011 Connecticut has fallen behind so as we've watched other states and municipalities across the country follow our lead adopting their own and often more inclusive and accessible sick leave policies so now more than 10 years after passing our sick leave policy uh we needed to make some changes Connecticut's existing paid sick law uh only applies to to certain service workers at employers of 50 or more employees but the law made exemptions for some Industries including a number of them in which women tend to be over represented shocking right so uh for many women they often take on the role of primary caretaker um when it comes to taking care of children spouses aging parents the original Bill offered a very narrow description when it came to uh care for others like the time uh many only used to care for a child 18 and under and also there were issues with respect to serious health conditions so this caretaking burden that women take on can be very significant and often uh really impact their careers and uh their jobs in a negative way so with more women needed across the workforce uh it's really important that our state uh enact policies that are female and familyfriendly and by updating these statutes we are allowing workers to have the opportunity to care for themselves and their families without worrying they'll lose their jobs additionally as we come out of the pandemic and we're coming out of a particularly uh Bad season of colds flu and rsvs and more covid we know that it keeps everybody healthier if sick people are allowed to stay home when they're sick so we are so proud to be here with some amazing legisl aters and Advocates who have worked and fought so hard to enact this really important legislation so I want to thank all of our amazing legislator colleagues and you're going to hear from down in a minute but with that it is my great pleasure to hand it off to our esteemed Senate President Martin Looney thank you thank you thank you madam lieutenant governor this uh was one of the most important bills of the 2024 session it's one that we were able to pass uh in the Senate last year uh but this year through the good work of the U the speaker the majority leader representative Sanchez uh and others we were able to get it done obviously it's it's wonderful that Sandra Kushner is here uh because she has been a champion of all of the progressive labor oriented legislation that we've been able to pass since 2019 when she entered the Senate uh and became the uh chair of the and public employees committee uh why why is this important uh why is it important to allow for paid sick days it's important because it recognizes the humanity of workers you think about it if an employer does not support and doesn't Grant paid sick days to employees the message is you are only worth the hours that you spend working here we have no further interest in you no further interest in your well-being we only care about the hours that you put in working here and this is not a message I think that employers should want to be sending to their workers especially many workers talk about the family atmosphere where they work well that's not a family atmosphere so now uh it's unfortunate that we have to mandate this but it is great that we were able to now we'll be moving from the the 50 worker total where it's currently sits to 25 in January then to 11 and then down to one uh the year after that in 2027 it's critically important uh that we that we do that because U we know that workers are dragging themselves to uh uh to work because even if you're a low-income worker the loss of a day's pay uh can be can be really stressful it can C be the difference between being uh perhaps being short on your rent uh at the end of the month or being short on a car payment uh it's not something where people have a cushion where they can say oh well you know I'll just go to my savings account to make up that difference uh people are living on the edge of Crisis all the time uh and this will be uh one way to help push that crisis is a little bit farther away uh from their door um and it's important I think to to recognize you know not to be partisan but um in election year I think it's important to be uh to recognize that that most Republicans were not supportive of this and they were not supportive of of this because they they said well uh employer shouldn't have to worry about sacrificing some profits in order to uh to Grant some extra days off to their workers uh it's the same thing with the most Republicans who um spoke against the the back contract agreement for state workers while praising state workers and uh and saying what a great job they did and how much their work was appreciated uh but not willing to show it in the way that would count most in a practical way uh supporting their contract uh um some of the same Republicans you know spoke glowingly after about the dot workers after the uh quick repair of the bridge in Norwalk but at the same time they weren't willing to support that that contract enhancement it's almost as if you see somebody you know uh slip and fall in the street ahead of you as you're walking by and you stop and say I wish you the best and and hope you're okay and then just keep walking uh that's exactly how they they behave so I'm so pleased that this bill uh passed this year with the governor's enthusiastic support it will mean a world of difference for low-income workers those who live on the tightest of margins I want to thank everyone here all of my fellow legislators for their uh for their work on that regard especially Senator Kushner our our champion in the uh in the Senate uh and again uh for the lieutenant for the governor lieutenant governor for their support and the administration made it clear from the beginning uh that they were in strong support of this bill thank you thank you Senator all right and it is my great pleasure to bring up our wonderful host uh Ashley nisp thank you so much for having all of us today thank you uh good morning and thank you everyone uh my name is Ashley npal and I serve as the vice president of communications for the narrative project if you don't mind I'm going to be reading most of my remarks because I am normally the girl that is behind the scenes uh today we are honored to host uh the governor Ned Lamont lieutenant governor Susan btz uh legislative uh allies and champions for this bill Senator Julie Kushner representative Manny Sanchez uh as well as the working family partners and especially important to us our partners at she Justice that really Champion the passage of this law so uh I want to first start by welcoming you to our offices in New Haven uh where we work tirelessly every day to tell just stories and my goodness look at this crowd and look at this turnout it is telling me that folks are very excited and ready for the expansion of Connecticut's paid sick days so uh thank you to everyone who made this to tell you a little bit about our organization The Narrative project started in 2015 as a community conversation platform uh we hosted deep conversations on race and identity and offered trainings on the same topic seeing the need to support organizations with this crucial work in a more integr integrated way we launched as Connecticut's only anti-racist public relations agency in 2019 uh and in fact this past week we just celebrated our fifth anniversary so we work exclusively with mission-driven organizations committed to pursuing Justice uh in our key issue areas which include education environmental justice immigration systemic racism to name a few so I would like to acknowledge our founder and CEO Mercy Quay who you would normally be hearing from today but she can unfortunately not be with us today because she's currently out of town taking some uh much needed time off and I think that example and this example that you're hearing from me today really underscores the importance of today's event uh because at its rote uh it's all about time it's all about individuals being able to take the time they need to rest recover and maintain their own well-being so the narrative project is uh extremely happy to support this critical legislation uh since our Inception we have championed the idea that a healthy and happy workplace starts with allowing employees to take time off when needed from year one we have offered generous time off policies and even closed our door for two weeks a year to ensure staff health and wellness uh remain on a consistent basis our ongoing investment in Staff Care is why we know sick leave is Cru is a crucial component in ensuring all workers uh do not have to choose between their health and their livelihoods so perhaps the one of the few Silver Linings brought on by the pandemic is that we were shown how critical it is uh how critical the need for paid sick days were uh since 2020 we've seen how vital it is for employees to have the ability to take time off when they are ill without fear of losing income and this bill and now law is a much needed step towards protecting Public Safety without penalty to any sick employees or their households so at its root we believe this bill is Health Justice work and we're eager to support the state in its effort to implement sustainability measures to ensure all businesses can support their employees and continue to thrive it goes without saying that small businesses especially those in black brown and low-income neighborhoods often face significant financial challenges these businesses are frequently at the heart of their communities working tirelessly to make ends meet and complete in the uh and compete in the marketplace so for these businesses and their employees sustainability will be the difference between success and failure that's why the narrative project is committed to supporting the state's establishment of a task force to identify opportunities for tax credits after the implementation of this bill and we look forward to working together with our partners and the state to create solutions that benefit Connecticut's entire Workforce uh once again thank you all for being here today's Bill signing is a significant step forward in ensuring the health and well-being of Connecticut's Workforce and we are proud to be part of this important moment and continue our work supporting initiatives that promote uh justice and equity in our communities uh thank you and I will now hand it over to the lieutenant governor thank you so much appreciate Ashley thank you so much it's now my pleasure to introduce uh two of our amazing legislative Champions who uh fought for this bill very tenaciously and we'll start with state senator Julie Kushner thank you thank you so much lieutenant Governor it's a pleasure to see you here uh Governor we couldn't have done this without you and um you know from the very beginning when we started talking about this bill last year very seriously your team came to the table and you were very easy to work with on this one and we appreciate that so much because you really were I think as passionate about getting this done as we were and of course to Senator Looney uh I wouldn't I have been very very happy to be a state senator since 2019 every year we have passed good strong legislation for working families and it's really been the leadership of Marty Looney that has gotten this done uh he's been 100% with us on every single step of the way uh and I can't tell you uh you you make me want to keep coming back to the Senate because of the work that we're getting done and and I appreciate it so much um we talked at the beginning here before we even got started about the governor being a new Grandpa but I think there's probably only one great grandmother in the room and I want to give acknowledgement to my mother who is with us today and and it's important to talk about your mothers right because it is really our mothers in many ways whether you're male or female uh however you identify it is really often our mothers that set us on the path that we take in life and for me it's been a path about making change making things better for regular working people and that has been my mission my whole life and I have found um being in Connecticut is a place where we can get things done so in 2019 when we passed the Paid Family Medical League Bill everybody was so excited we were taking care of working families and it was incredibly important legislation but basically there was a little loophole in there and that is that people who were not seriously ill or who were only out for a short time didn't necessarily have coverage and we found that to be very true during the pandemic we launched the Paid Family Medical Leave program during the pandemic and what we found is that first year there were thousands and thousands of applications for people who did not qualify because they were out for a few days um because they didn't have to go to a doctor because it wasn't serious enough for every employer to be required to provide coverage and that really was a big motivating factor for getting this done now um we understand it's it's about humanity and I think that always comes first um but it's also about making sure that people have their jobs protected of course the pay is important but people didn't even have job protection before this if they were out sick for a day or two or three and so there's so much in this Bild that is critically important when we were on our way here we got a little lost we stopped at the Omni Hotel and I said where we were going that we're going to a press conference about paid sick days and the two guys there said oh will that help us and I said you got a Union contract you've already got that this is for the people that don't have anything I was very proud of the very first press conference we had on this bill we had a businesswoman young woman who just started up her business in danburry Connecticut someone I have gone there and frequented it and what she said is that as a small business as a startup business things are very tough and I cannot Prov provide healthare like I would like to but I can provide paid sick days and for her this bill was very important because it's about leveling the playing field for those employers that are small that are struggling to make when they do give benefits it's really important that they have a Level Playing Field and other employers are required to give the same benefits so there's so many ways in which this is going to advance our state uh I know that for me personally it was one of those things was on our list right um and it I actually was part of the Coalition in 2011 when we passed the first bill and it's been on our list since then to improve that so that at the time only 12% of our Workforce had employers that were required to provide this benefit and in three years every employer in Connecticut will be required to provide this benefit and that's a huge change um it didn't you know I love to thank the governor I love to thank the lieutenant governor and our leadership and certainly my co-chair representative Santos who is just a dream to work with and we had such a good time working on this not always a good time sometimes a little stressful but but generally speaking it was a good time um but really the people who got this done are the people who are here in this room it was the Coalition it was the Working Families party and she leads Justice and all of you the domestic workers who have been at every single one of our events all of you now we get to sit up there in Hartford and work on these laws but it's the people who really make it happen and so today this is a celebration I'm so pleased that we're doing here at the narrative project It's a Wonderful opportunity um to join with you in our celebration of passing pic days it's one of I would like to say it's the best Bill we did this year I'm sure there's a few that would compete for that um but I think it was very important for the working people of Connecticut thank you thank you all right well it's my pleasure to introduce the other legislative Champion the co-chair uh the chair of the labor committee and the house state representative Manny Sanchez thank you all for being here this is truly a big deal um we understood the work that was required uh to get this thing over the Finish Line the many perspectives that needed to be considered the conversation the many conversations for and against uh but paid sick days for every connetic employee will now be a reality uh and it's because of the many faces in this room uh that that is true workers should never have to choose between their health and their job responsibilities thank you wonderful all right and thank you uh representative Sanchez for channeling Q Williams who uh I'm sure is looking down very happy uh with this bill signing today and I want to acknowledge uh two other legislative uh Champions the vice chair of the labor committee and the house state representative derell Wilson and a fierce fighter for working family state representative Pat Dyan so Senator Kushner referenced uh some of the the allies and Advocates that helped us fight for this legislation it's my pleasure to introduce Jana Woods Weber who is the executive director of she lead's Justice good morning uh so great to see everyone here uh I'm Jan Woods Weber executive director of she leads Justice good morning Sarah gong with Connecticut Working Families power and we were so proud to lead the paid sick days Coalition uh this bill would not have been passed uh without the leadership of our wonderful legislative Champions but also the years of tireless work of The Advocates so many people in this room and Beyond hundreds of people across the state who came together and gave hundreds of hours of their time shared their stories gave testimony did all of that work to make sure en sure that every worker in the state of Connecticut will now have access to paid sick days this is a crucial step forward for workers in Connecticut in so many ways and as the leader of an organization that advocates for women this is a particularly powerful step forward because we are so fortunate to live in a state that takes women's rights seriously particularly now when Women's Health Care is under attack and paid sick days are an important step for insurance that women have access to that health care including abortion care and it is also an important step forward if we say that we are a state that believes survivors because this bill also includes safe days so that people who are survivors of sexual assault domestic violence or intimate partner violence can also take the time that they need to care for themselves and as was mentioned earlier women continue to be the primary caretakers not only for ourselves but also for our families and our communities and so no longer will we have to make the choice between taking time to care for our loved ones or paycheck those days are over it's a great day in Connecticut to be a worker one of the other things we're proudest of in this bill is the expanded and strong family definition many of us in this room in 2019 worked really hard to make sure that the paid Family and Medical Leave allowed you to take care of people that you love here in Connecticut we think that uh if you're a bipo family if you're an LGBT qia plus family if there is somebody that you love that you rely on who relies on you you should be able to take time off to care for them and we're really pleased and proud that that is in this legislation and is a model for the rest of the country as it was in 2019 say Who You Are song with Connecticut Working Families power we're proud to be part of the paid uh SI days Coalition this year I also think it's as important to take a moment I noticed this morning uh in my Facebook memories as I like to look at this time of year that this is actually the 5year anniversary of a lot of us being together when the governor signed the minimum wage Bill to raise the wage so conate has done Connecticut has done a lot of fantastic work over the last five and six years to help workers and really excited to to continue that momentum moving forward thank you thank you than you ladies great all right it is now my pleasure to introduce a business owner Greg Simkins and Greg is the owner of avalanche Landscaping here in New [Applause] Haven good morning everyone my name is Greg Simkins as she just said I'm the proud owner of avalanche tree and uh Landscaping in New Haven as a business owner here in Connecticut I am excited to speak about my experience and the recent past paid sick days expansion and how it will positively impact our communities avalan tree and Landscaping has created the need for residential and Commercial Business in New Haven Connecticut since 2010 with a profound respect for nature and passion and design we specialize in Tree Care Landscaping and environmental stewardship to elevate Aesthetics sustainability and Tranquility my team is currently made up of six full-time employees and two part-time employees the majority of which are formerly incarcerated individuals for they are dedicated to ensuring Professional Service meticulous attention to detail for both residential and Commercial projects in the New Haven region we are proud to support the expansion paid sick days in Connecticut as many of you know family is at the heart of Our Lives one key benefit of this new law is the support it provides to hardworking employees who need to take the time off to care for their spouse child or parent when a loved one is ill the last thing anyone should have to worry about is how are they going to pay their bills or are they going to be able to take care of their family member this law ensures that more employees can take the necessity and the necessary time to care for their families without Financial stress equally important the paid sick days law is crucial for employees who fall ill their selves in the past many workers had to choose between health and their paycheck often coming to work sick because they couldn't um take the time off this not only jeopardize the health their health but also the risk of spreading illnesses to their colleagues and the customers with the paid sick days employees can recuperate at home and uring healthier and more productive workp space for [Applause] everyone from a business perspective happy and healthy employees are the backbone of a successful business and anyone who has ever been part of a small business knows that we often rely on our small tight-nit team when employees know that their well-being is valued their commitment to their job increases they are more likely to stay longterm reducing turnover rates cost associated with hiring and training new staff when employees have their time to recover from illnesses without the stress of a lost wage they return to work healthier and more productive we all know that as a long local business owner employer and a proud Connecticut resident I am grateful this new law will bring to our state in line with the neighboring states and make connetic more productive state with the small businesses and a better place to work for employees in conclusion the pay sick days law is a win-win for everyone we all could agree on that thank you guys thank you Greg thank you so much it's my pleasure to uh introduce uh an employee uh who previously didn't have paid sick days and she is Kimberly oi I hope I said that right okay K okay K [Applause] Kimberly good morning my name is Kimberly o' I live in East East Harford Connecticut and I am a congregational and Community organizer at the collaborative Center for justice this is a faith-based nonprofit organization founded by five congregations of Catholic women religious we are dedicated to advocating for systemic change and educating individuals about social justice issues in order to make a difference in the lives of people who are poor marginalized and alienated a few months ago during Governor Ned Lamont's press conference in March Mar I shared with you all about a very vulnerable and sensitive period in my life when I was only 21 years old I was unexpectedly diagnosed with adult interception of the coling I had to undergo an intense emergency surgery which turned out to be successful however I was not permitted to work for a significant amount of time at the time I was a student working various part-time jobs but unfortunately I had no access to paid sick days healing from my surgery while trying to figure out finances was very traumatic and very stressful however I'm blessed to be standing here with you all today in order to show gratitude and appreciation for the signing of HB 505 an act concerning paid sick days I am blessed and forever grateful because this bill will have a positive and tremendous impact on people who are actively going through or trying to heal from short-term health conditions this bill will relieve their financial burdens and will hopefully bring them a peace of mind not only am I excited that this bill has a positive impact towards individuals going through a Health crisis but this bill has the potential to impact a diverse array of communities especially historically marginalized groups of people this bill has the potential to help financially men black and African-American communities this bill has the potential to impact immigrants from all over this bill has the potential to impact low-wage workers this bill has the potential to impact single mothers and so on and so forth with this being said I would like to take I would like to take the time to thank Governor Lamont for his unwavering unwavering support of hb50 or5 and the leadership of senators Julie Kushner and George cabara and representatives Manny Sanchez and darell Wilson thank you for advocating for this bill and having faith in its impact I would also like to thank two organizations she leads Justice in Connecticut Working Families power for not only their push for advocacy but ongoing perseverance of making sure the public is informed and educated about the issue of paid sick paid sick leave in Connecticut and the and for the hard work of everyone in the paid sick days Coalition I would also like to thank the collaborative Center for justice for giving me the tools to develop as a leader and help manifest change in pursuit of this bill I am exhilarated to see the process of this bill enforced as it helps to lift the financial burden of families and relieve CT workers in generals the movers and shakers the change makers thank you thank you Kimberly thank you so much and without further Ado our fearless leader Ned lont well thanks Susan and yeah as Manny said uh this is truly a big deal I think uh Joe Biden would have phrased that a little more colorfully but um and uh see my friend Chris Donovan there just reminds us that this has been a long time coming and uh Julie's mom I bet she was writing the fourth grade paper on the importance of paid sick days some years back and um it it took a while and uh you know there was some push back and as a lot of good ideas there is some push back and um they push back on me cuz um you know I'm the business guy and uh I said I Julie said and as Marty knows I believed in this from the very beginning we're going to get this over the Finish Line we got it over the finish line and takes work and they go oh govern you know this is going to um really be bad for small business nobody's going to grow jobs here again well hold it dude I I think you told me the same thing about the minimum wage I think you told me the same thing about paid family and medical leave and I want you to know we've had more economic growth more opportunities more startups more startups um small businesses with women and women of color ever before in the history of the state and and by the way I came out of small business we tended to do this already I did not want people very sick coming and taking care of customers and stuff was the wrong thing to do and but by the way buddy on the phone if you weren't doing this that's why we needed a law for folks like you so we'd be able to take care of people and uh what that means and and finally as Susan said um I think it's really important for people as they think about the state of Connecticut what type of a state we are I I love the fact that um we are becoming known as the most familyfriendly state in the country I love the fact we have uh more young families or soon to be young families moving into the state of Connecticut for a variety of reasons one of which is maybe would make it a little bit easier for you to be able to take care of the family you love and the work that uh sustains you and the taking care of the customers you need and I think this is one more small step that we are able to make this difference I know why Looney made a priority number one and we got it done buddy okay so I think we will sign the bill and then do on topic questions so go we're going to have you sit in the hot seat right here yeah she's been whispering on your ear since 1964 all right all right y we just going to do just a couple letters at the time keep using oh there we go oop a different colored pants that's going to keep you interesting okay that's interesting doesn't matter Julie gets the colorful one we'll give that one to Julie thank you go there we go okay okay all right I got to keep doing this good this is like all right we're getting the hang of this all right that one all right good idea is have many parents we need a lot of pens yes which we sure do it's a good problem to have you gracious all right give you those there's one underneath use that pen because we still got two more ni two more and then two more lot here got a lot of allies we need that right okay okay two more go we'll give everybody him all right who gets the last one we go all right Sarah got all [Applause] right [Applause] congratulations Julie will give you a pen hey Mom how it going it's my pleasure hey Chris You' been there right than you you know age of zero to the age of 81 all right we'll take pictures in one minute we're going to take some questions at the [Music] podium what did Julie say all right um before we do pictures we're going to take any on topic questions sure Governor uh the the Senate President uh took note of the fact it is election year uh to what extent in your view does this bill Define the differences between two parties you're welcome look I try and do everything we can on a bipartison basis I think it makes it stronger but as Marty pointed out uh this one was not very bipartisan and uh Frank ly I I think um come out of small business sometimes uh you listen to what a lobbyist says and a lobbyist says this is not good for business I Tred to explain why I think that's wrong I think it's good for the state I think it's good for the people I see right here in this room I think it's good for small business and um that's a case I'm going to make between now and November govern can I can I add to that though please I do want to say something cuz the same thing happened with our TV friends might appreciate it yeah come right here right here this game but I think it's important to note that the same thing happened when we passed paid family medical leave and there wasn't a single vote in either the house or the Senate by the Republican legislators and it was a huge mistake on their part there's someone in every town and city of Connecticut has benefited from this and it's something that every legislator should have been on board with and so I think there is a defining line and you know it's unfortunate and I hope that we can bring people around and I know in my own experience there are plenty of Republicans in my city and in my towns that support me because of the work we're doing for working families and so I don't think it's true across the board for the population but I unfortunately think it's too true for the elected officials and and I'll just add to what the governor and Senator Kushner had said same thing happened with raising the minimum wage and these are things that we and the Democratic Party are very proud to stand up for because they uplift women they uplift families they uplift communities and our state we are leading the way on those fronts um maybe u u Senator Looney and the governor maybe you could answer uh this we we heard what you said earlier about the Republicans I went back and I looked at a statement that came out from the Senate Republicans and one of the one of their criticisms is this will hurt employers and employees by eliminating their ability to negotiate uh employment terms themselves it sort of presupposes that there's a an equal relation Rel employer employee and I'm not quite sure you you you agree with that character abolutely don't that what a piece of fiction that is um it's U it's just like saying well we we a hundred years ago uh people like today's current Republicans were opposing child labor laws because well this this interferes with the right of the 8-year-old kid to negotiate terms and benefits with his employee you know that's a that's this is a fiction that there is such a disparity in power between employers and employees I'm surprised that somebody can make that argument with a straight face in 2024 uh in addition to um you know what what was said what the lieutenant governor said again about the minimum wage as well as this these same arguments were used when there was an effort to pass child labor laws when there was an effort to pass workplace safety laws in the creation of Osha there was always a whining and a handw ring about the effect on business how terrible it'll be and all that it was a fraud and a lie then it's the same now and we need to keep moving forward [Applause] what's what's the ballpark best number uh that you can give us today on how many people don't have this benefit in going forward I I think the research showed that in fact the overwhelming majority of employers in Connecticut already provide this benefit and just to be clear if you're providing the benefit this law doesn't mean you have to add on this is really geared toward the ones that don't provide and I think the research has been about 12% of Workforce in Connecticut does not have uh paid sick days and and while 12% might seem like a small number it's a lot of people and so that's why this bill was so incredibly important the 12% that was not covered that won't be covered by the law versus I mean could you clarify that well see I think what's confusing is that there's currently 88% of the workers work for employers that are not required to provide this benefit but in fact about 80% of the workforce is already covered because the employers are doing it without the requirement of law so I think that's what gets confusing um because I've been told that about 12% of workers in Connecticut do not have the benefit do not have the legal benefit but we don't no no I'm talking about do not do not get paid six days at work that's distinction and the thing is is confusing it's about the same figures for both questions what are the jobs you're seeing most where they don't have the benefit well a good example is domestic workers you see so many domestic workers here today because they've never had this benefit and when we passed the Paid Family Medical Leave Act we made sure that it covered every worker including domestic workers and you know Personal Care attendance and but we know from research it's not just the lowest wage workers but it's also people like who work as dental hygienists people who work um often in landscaping I know that we had a really good employer here talking about that but these are fields that often don't pay uh for paid sick days and they don't provide job protection either which is also key in this I believe during the during the during the discussion uh Le the house or Senate I thought it was mentioned that part-time workers would be the largest beneficiary of this and and I was wondering one if if if that's your understanding and two do we even have a number of of part-time workers because I I can't seem to find that on the the labor department's website I have not seen a number of the number of part-time workers but you're absolutely correct that um part-time workers often do not have paid sick benefits and this benefit that the law that we've passed will allow them to earn based on the number of hours they work a benefit so in fact that is going to be a huge portion and a lot of part-time workers work multiple jobs and so that's why you know they often don't have benefits all right thank you thank you and we'll do some photos with this fabulous uh Banner we making hisory today we making are yes we are you know what