A week after I gave birth, I had to go back to work. I had not been in business long and had no money saved. Luckily, my mom was able to come and care for my child while I was with patients. I had to nurse in between appointments, which was really stressful.
Soon I may need to help my mother, who is getting older and has diabetes. If something serious happened, I don’t know what I would do. I want a paid family and medical leave policy to be there for her.
Paying a little bit over time is affordable for small business. What is not affordable is to have to pay for leave all at once. It could mean the difference between keeping the business open or needing to close our doors, and my eight employees losing their livelihoods too.