President Barack Obama has used his executive powers to force federal contractors to provide seven days of paid sick leave to employees.

The new rules, which won’t go into effect until 2017, demand that companies doing business with the U.S. government give their workers (both full-time and part-time) an hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked for a total of up to seven days in a year.

Workers can use the sick leave for themselves, or to care for a sick family member or other loved one, including a domestic partner. They may also use the time off to recover from acts of sexual assault or other domestic violence, or from stalking.

The regulations are expected to affect about 300,000 workers who are not currently getting paid sick leave, and it will provide other workers with more paid sick days off than they would otherwise be granted, according to The New York Times.

Obama chose to use his presidential authority to effect the change because the Republican-controlled Congress has refused to consider such a plan. The GOP has sided with business lobbyists that insist mandating paid sick leave will only hurt companies and adversely impact their bottom line.

The Obama administration says paid sick leave should be available to those in the private sector as well, where up to 44 million workers do not have such a benefit.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Obama to Require Federal Contractors to Provide Paid Sick Leave (by Peter Baker, New York Times)

In Boston Speech, Obama Unveils Executive Order for More Paid Sick Leave (by David Nakamura, Washington Post)

Obama Advances Plan Requiring Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractor Employees (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)