Nearly 200 businesses worth a combined $562+ billion urge Congress to pass paid leave in the next legislative recovery package

Nearly 200 businesses worth a combined $562+ billion urge Congress to pass paid leave in the next legislative recovery package 

Key brands including Pinterest, Spotify, Levi Strauss & Co, Patagonia, Salesforce, Diageo, Danone, Eventbrite, issue public call for paid family leave at key legislative and political moment

Washington, D.C. —Today, Paid Leave for the United States (PL+US) released an open letter to Congress signed by nearly 200 businesses issuing a public call for inclusion and passage of a national paid family and medical leave policy in the next legislative recovery package. These brands and business leaders are sending a loud, unified message: paid leave is a critical policy for our economic recovery as we rebuild from the global pandemic. This letter is being introduced at a critical moment as the Biden Administration and Congress set the priorities for the next recovery package/s. 

This letter is an unprecedented show of strength and unity from a diverse array of companies spanning a wide range of sizes, geographies and sectors and worth a combined $562 Billion.  Key signers include: Pinterest, Levi Strauss & Co, Spotify, Patagonia, Diageo, Danone, Eventbrite, Rent the Runway, Discord, Atlassian, Stitch Fix, Sunrun, Lime, Nextdoor, Milk Makeup, Rebecca Minkoff, Thumbtack, Ripple, Rothy's, Amalgamated Bank, Calm, Lightspeed Ventures, Relativity Space, ThirdLove, Zola, Honest Company, Lady Gaga's makeup company Haus Labs, JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions, Kirsten Bell’s Hello Bello, Jennifer Garner’s Once Upon a Farm, Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop, and +160 more.

Full list of signers and a copy of the letter are available here: https://paidleave.us/biz-for-paid-leave

“The pandemic transformed the politics of paid leave, and the massive surge in business support for leave we see in this letter is one of the surest signs we’ve seen of that fact so far,”  said Annie Sartor, PL+US’s Senior Director of Business Partnerships. “The COVID crisis allowed millions of Americans to see how broken our care infrastructure has been for years. This letter makes it clear that the business community isn’t just ok with federal action on paid family and medical leave, they want Congress to act right now.”

“From our headquarters to our warehouse, everyone at Rent the Runway has access to paid leave within our equalized benefits program, because it’s the right thing to do—period,” said Jenn Hyman, CEO of Rent the Runway. “We joined this push for federal legislation on paid leave because we believe that national action is key to stemming the tide of women leaving the workforce in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. As many businesses continue to struggle one year into the pandemic, leaders must also recognize that these actions are simply good for the bottom line, increasing employee loyalty and satisfaction, decreasing hiring and training costs, and more.”

"I have spoken at length about my personal experience with paid family leave and the critical role it played in my family’s preservation following the challenging birth of my daughter. However, I recognize that the flexibility I was afforded as the co-founder of my own company, is unfortunately not the standard in this country.  As a father and a business owner, I am proud to join the chorus of business leaders urging congress to include comprehensive paid family and medical leave for all working people in their economic recovery plan.  The pandemic has cast a harsh light on so many of the inequities in our society, and families should no longer be subjected to the added pressure of choosing between their job or caring for a child or loved one,” said Alexis Ohanian, Founder and CEO, SEVEN SEVEN SIX. 

“Offering a robust paid family leave plan to all our employees, regardless of gender, same sex marriage, foster care or adoption, sends a critically important message to our community. Diageo is proud to add our name to endorse this federal policy because we know a comprehensive program is core to creating a more inclusive workforce and would level the playing field, especially for millions of lower-wage, minority workers for whom paid leave is currently non-existent or inaccessible,” said Laura Watt, EVP, Diageo North America.