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By Claire Zillman
On Wednesday, California Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation making the state the second in the nation to institute statewide paid sick leave.
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At the signing ceremony, Brown said that the legislation—expected to bring paid sick leave to most of the 6.5 million Californians currently without it—“helps people—whether it’s a person working at a car wash or McDonald’s or 7-Eleven.”
Well there’s one group of people it doesn’t help: home health care workers.
Because of cost concerns, Brown negotiated a last-minute amendment that exempts home health care workers from the law.
The carve-out of these workers is not surprising, says Abby Marquand, director of policy research at the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, a nonprofit advocacy organization. Why? Workers who care for the elderly and disabled in their homes are “an easy target for holding down costs,” she says. “Collectively, as a society, we haven’t valued the work they do in the way we should.”
That’s a problem in and of itself, and it has been amplified by the fact that the home care industry is the fastest-growing sector of the American economy.
For the rest of the story, please go to Fortune.com.
