Working Families

Strengthening Working Families

Senator Murray believes that in order for our communities to prosper, working families need jobs that provide a decent wage and support a balance between the demands of work and home. 

The minimum wage is one of the most fundamental federal workplace protections.
No one who works for a living should have to live in poverty. The declining value of the minimum wage means that low-income workers have been forced to work increasingly longer hours to make ends meet and have less time to spend with their families.  In 2007, Senator Murray helped pass the first increase to the minimum wage in over a decade.

Senator Murray understands that for some, wage discrimination remains a problem in the American workplace, and she's worked to restore fairness by:

  • Cosponsoring the Fair Pay Act, legislation that would prohibit wage discrimination on the basis of sex, race or national origin.  Senator Murray has cosponsored this bill since 1996.

  • Working to pass the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, legislation that would reverse the Supreme Court’s decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co that seriously undermined the law's ability that protect workers against pay discrimination. This legislation was signed into law in January 2009.
  • Working to support Washington state’s own paid family leave program that passed the Washington State Legislature in 2007.

In 1993, Senator Murray was a leader in fighting for the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which ensures that most workers are able to take time off from work to attend to family and personal medical needs without the fear of losing their jobs. 

Since then, she has fought to strengthen the FMLA by:

  • Introducing legislation that would allow victims of domestic violence to use FMLA leave for non-medical reasons, such as court appearances.

  • Supporting legislation to extend FMLA to military spouses and dependents.

  • Sponsoring the Airline Flight Crews Technical Corrects Act, a bill that clarifies the original intent of the FMLA in regards to hours of qualification for flight attendants and pilots. 

  • Supporting extended FMLA usage for parents to attend activities for children.

  • Opposing proposed DOL regulations that would further limit the benefits of FMLA for employees.

Senator Murray believes that while unpaid job protected leave is vital, it does not go far enough for working families in today's economy.  That is why she is committed to working toward guaranteed paid leave for workers, which she has supported by:

  • Cosponsoring the Family Leave Insurance Act, legislation to provide 8 weeks of paid leave for reasons allowed under FMLA.

  • Cosponsoring the Healthy Families Act, a bill that would require employers with 15 or more employees to provide a minimum of 7 paid days of sick leave.

Senator Murray will continue to reject any effort that restricts job-protected leave and she will continue to work in Congress to ensure that all of our nation's working families are able to better balance their work and family responsibilities.

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