The World Assembly,
Understanding the importance of an economically and socially secure working class to long-term economic growth,
Believing that said security does not need to be mutually exclusive with the decision to raise a family or the need to maintain good health, and
Wishing to ensure that working people in all member nations have access to paid leave and job security in order to care for themselves and their loved ones, without unduly disrupting the operations of their employers, hereby:
- Defines for the purposes of this resolution:
- a "worker" as any individual bound by a contract to perform work or services for an employer, whose employment contract mandates the work or services be performed specifically by that worker, involves an obligation for the worker to perform work and the employer to provide it, and implies the employer having some degree of control over the manner in which the work is performed; and
- "paid leave" as time during which a worker is not required to perform the work or services specified in their employment contract and receives:
- compensation sufficient to financially support themselves and their dependents, to be provided by the government of a member nation;
- all employment-related benefits which would otherwise be provided to that worker, to be provided by their employer; and
- the guaranteed ability to return to the same or a comparable job after the conclusion of paid leave, should their employer reasonably be able to provide such;
- Declares that member nations must provide workers who request such with a reasonable duration of paid leave to the extent necessary to adequately service any of the following conditions:
- to care for a new child due to childbirth, adoption, or placement of said child in foster care should the child require such care;
- to care for a seriously ill or physically or mentally disabled spouse, child below the age of majority, parent, grandparent, or dependent should they require such care; or
- to recover from their own serious illness;
- Forbids employers from discriminating or retaliating against workers for requesting or taking paid leave pursuant to section 2 of this resolution; such retaliation including:
- not returning said workers to the same or a comparable job;
- terminating employment;
- reducing compensation or benefits; or
- disciplining said workers;
- Requires that workers:
- give their employer reasonable notice in the event of a foreseeable birth or adoption; and
- alert their employer of serious health conditions that are the reason for their requesting paid leave if practicable;
- Clarifies that:
- employers may not impose unnecessarily onerous conditions on the granting of paid leave;
- any additional conditions by an employer on the granting of paid leave are to be implemented and enforced at the employer's expense;
- member nations may place the burden of providing financial compensation to workers over the duration of paid leave on said workers' employer should the employer be capable of providing such without significant financial strain; and
- employers, member nations, and World Assembly resolutions may implement policies granting workers more expansive paid leave than provided for by this resolution.
