In a guest blog, Washington Employment Commissioner Suzi LeVine discusses Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program, which will allow workers to take up to 12 weeks, as needed, beginning in 2020.

Providing more workers with access to adequate paid family and medical leave is one way to help meet the evolving needs of workers, while also recognizing the importance of caregiving work.

To address the challenges of rising independent work, stagnant wages, modest productivity increases, skill mismatches, and the growing impact of automation, Theresa May appointed former Tony Blair policy chief Matthew Taylor to lead a review of the changing nature of work in the UK. Many of the report’s conclusions and recommendations echo those discussed in the Future of Work Initiative’s Toward a New Capitalism and the Portable Benefits Resource Guide reports.

Earlier this month, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed into law a bipartisan plan to guarantee family and medical leave to workers in the state. Importantly, this plan includes a provision that allows self-employed workers to buy into the system. As our national conversation on family and medical leave heats up, policymakers should learn from state experiences and ensure that these programs include independent workers.