White House officials said June 21 that President Barack Obama will expand the rights of gay and lesbian workers by letting them take medical leave to care for their partners’ sick or newborn children, the New York Times reported.
A 1993 statute allows employees who work in companies with at least 50 workers to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for spouses’ children or newborns.
The Human Rights Campaign helped the administration craft the family-leave policy. The Department of Labor will set forth the policy June 23.