President Obama is expected to announce today that he is directing federal agencies to grant employees up to six weeks paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child. He will also ask Congress to pass the Healthy Families Act, a bill that will give up to seven paid sick days to workers across the country. All of this is part of President Obama’s efforts to improve the lives of middle-class Americans.

Under the current law, the Family and Medical Leave Act, workers get up to 12 weeks leave for new children but it is not paid. This renders it close to useless for many families who rely on each and every paycheck.

President Obama is issuing a mandate, rather passing a new law, because he needs congressional approval to change the policy of federal agencies. He hopes that agencies will adopt the new policy in order to hire the best and brightest employees. Then, so his strategy goes, market forces will drive other companies to improve their family benefits packages in order to stay competitive. Thus, paid family leave will become the norm nationwide.

In addition, the president purposes setting up a $2.2 billion fund to allow states to develop their own paid leave programs and requests $35 million in grants to assist in the designing of the programs.

“Approximately 40 percent of private-sector employees work at a company that does not offer sick pay for their own illness or injury,” according to a White House fact sheet. “And low- and middle- income workers are much less likely to be offered paid sick leave than highly paid workers.”

Paid sick leave has been proven to reduce the loss of productivity due to illnesses spreading in the work environment. Several states already have paid-leave programs. In Connecticut, which passed a similar law two years ago, three-quarters of employees say they approve of such legislation.

Nonetheless, President Obama can expect to face strong resistance from the Republican-held Congress. The two main focuses of the GOP are to rein in spending and to oppose President Obama. In their view, it is not the government’s role to increase pay and benefits. This mandate will be one more stone Republicans can throw at Obama as they strive to convey his abuse of executive office ahead of the 2016 presidential election.