Gov. Ned Lamont signed legislation on Tuesday, June 25th that will establish an employee-funded family and medical leave program in Connecticut.

1199 Member and PCA, Kharlene Wonder gave a compelling personal testimony and talked about how this affects the future for workers like herself.

“Today we are celebrating a law that will give working people access to Paid Family & Medical Leave to be able to fully recuperate. Working people like me will have the freedom to not worry about where our next meal will come from, or stress about how the bills are paid while we focus on healing ourselves or assisting our family members in need.”

With the signing, Connecticut joins seven other states and the District of Columbia in offering a paid leave program for workers. Under the measure, you would be able to take three months off with pay if you or a family member is sick or if you just had a baby. It will provide up to twelve weeks of pay with a limit of $900 dollars depending on your salary.

Watch the livestream here: