WE DID IT!

On March 13, 2013 Portland became the 4th U.S. city to adopt a paid sick days law!

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In front of Portland City Hall with Commissioner Amanda Fritz after the city council voted unanimously for earned sick time.

On March 13, 2013 the Mayor and City Commissioners of Portland, Oregon voted unanimously (5 to 0) to implement an earned sick time policy that will enable people who work in the city to earn sick time while they work, making Portland the 4th U.S. city to enact such a policy.  The state of Connecticut and approximately 145 countries have also adopted paid sick leave standards. This is a big forward step for Portland’s economy – and all the people it touches — that will help employees better manage their work and health simultaneously, without jeopardizing one or the other.

The policy will be effective January 1, 2014 and apply to all employers whose employees work 240 or more hours per year in the city.  Part-time and full-time workers will accrue paid sick and safe time at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked and be able to access it after 90 days on the job.  For employers with five or fewer employees the time will be job-protected but not paid, and for employers with six or more employees the time will be both paid and job-protected. Accrued time will not roll over from calendar year to calendar year, nor will it be cashed out upon separation. Time can be used to care for oneself, a family member, or to handle domestic violence issues. [Read the final policy here: http://bit.ly/PdxFinalPolicy]

Everybody Benefits Coalition Coordinator and Family Forward Oregon Executive Director Andrea Paluso is pleased with both the process and the final policy:

“What an exciting moment for Portland! Our elected officials are leading our city toward a more just and healthy economy that works for more Portlanders.  I am pleased both with the road that brought us to this historic vote and with the final policy the Portland City Council has put forth – refined with deep and broad stakeholder input.

Passing this policy brings us that much closer to a place where today’s employees can both provide for and responsibly care for their health and their families. Of course workers all across Oregon won’t benefit from this local policy, which is why we are already working closely with our state legislators toward a similar earned sick time law that will make Oregon’s entire workforce – and the economy it drives – healthier.”

Once Portland workers begin earning sick time in 2014, the whole community will benefit.  Here’s how:

1. EARNED SICK DAYS ARE GOOD FOR PUBLIC HEALTH.

It’s a fact: illnesses spread in workplaces.  During the H1N1 epidemic, an estimated seven million cases were contracted at work from people who came to work sick.  The federal CDC asked them to stay home to prevent contagion, but that can be hard to do without earned sick time.

Yet, 40% of people working in the Portland area have no earned sick leave – including thousands of local grocery stores, restaurants and medical centers.[1]

74% of food service workers in the Portland area have no paid sick leave, even though handling food is one of the fastest ways to spread illness.[2]

2. EARNED SICK DAYS ARE GOOD FOR FAMILIES.

The last thing many families can afford to lose is a day’s pay – especially these days. Even one day without pay can prevent a family from affording rent, a medical co-pay, or a heating bill.Adult holding sick child's hand

Earned sick time helps people stay in their jobs. A recent study showed that 16% of workers had actually been fired from their job for taking time off due to personal illness or to care for an ill family member.[3]

Working parents with paid time off are five times likelier to stay home to care for a sick child than those without paid time off.[4]  Sick kids should recover at home.

3. EARNED SICK DAYS ARE GOOD FOR BUSINESS.

Smiling workers togetherEmployers save money by allowing workers to earn paid sick days. How can this be? Employees who stay home when sick are actually more productive than employees who work when sick.  In fact, “presenteeism” – when workers come to work sick – costs employers an average of $255 per employee per year.[5]

Workers take a median of only three sick days a year, even when they’ve earned more. And 9 of 10 employers rarely or never need to hire replacement workers when employees use sick leave.

A minimum standard for earning sick days levels the playing field for employers who already provide this benefit.[6]  In San Francisco, where all workers have been earning sick leave since the 2007 ordinance, fully 2/3 of the businesses support the policy.

Portland Workers To Earn Paid Sick Time

Our neighbors to the north and south have recently passed earned sick time legislation to correct the same problem we’re facing here in Oregon: too many people working in Multnomah County have no earned sick leave – including thousands of local grocery stores, restaurants and medical centers.[i]  Here’s what these cities did to protect public health, workers, and employers:

SEATTLE

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn signed landmark city legislation into law in September, 2011, ensuring hundreds of thousands of people working in Seattle will be able to earn paid sick days on the job.

seattle paid sick days signing

The bill passes! Photo courtesy EOI.

When the new law takes effect on September 1st, 2012, an estimated 150,000 workers who previously did not earn paid sick days will begin to accrue them; thousands more workers will be able earn additional paid sick days and have additional flexibility for using them.

Over 100 local organizations and small businesses endorsed the paid sick days proposal. The Seattle Coalition for a Healthy Workforce – whose leadership includes Economic Opportunity Institute, MomsRising, Puget Sound Sage, UFCW 21, Legal Voice, Washington CAN, Puget Sound Association for Retired Americans, M.L. King County Labor Council, and the Washington State Labor Council – mobilized thousands of Seattle workers and voters who called, emailed and turned out in support. Public enthusiasm and the leadership of Councilmember Nick Licata led to passage by the City Council on September 12th by an 8-1 vote.

Learn more about the Seattle paid sick days ordinance here.

SAN FRANCISCO

Beginning February, 2007, all employers in must provide paid sick leave to each employee who performs work in the city. According to the National Partnership for Women & Families, a national advocate for earned sick days,

“Sixty-one percent of San Francisco voters approved the city’s paid sick days law in 2006 despite the business lobby’s fierce campaign against it. Under the law, workers in smaller businesses can earn up to five paid sick days per year while workers in larger businesses can earn up to nine. Workers can use the sick time to recover from their own illness, care for a sick family member, or seek routine medical care.

This new study shows what researchers, advocates and the San Francisco public knew to be true: San Francisco’s PSLO has had a tremendous impact on workers’ lives with little to no impact on the city’s businesses. Two-thirds of the employers surveyed now support the PSLO. They overwhelmingly report that their profits haven’t declined as a result of the law and two-thirds report no difficulties with implementation.

The study results suggest that part of the reason the impact on business has been minimal is that workers only take sick days when they need them. Even though the law allows workers to take between five and nine paid sick days annually, San Francisco workers used a median of just three days per year to recover from an illness or care for a sick family member. And one-quarter of workers reported that they didn’t take a single sick day. Commonly used arguments about employee abuse, just like concerns about hindering businesses, simply aren’t reflected in the real-life data coming out of San Francisco. It’s no wonder that the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, one of the chief opponents of the law prior to its passage, now concedes that there has not been an adverse impact on business closures or employee misuse.

Family of fourThis new data proves that access to paid sick days really does make a difference for working families. More than half of the workers surveyed said they have benefitted from the law. And the law has given workers who need paid sick days the most—including parents and workers with chronic health conditions—the time they need to care for their health and the health of their children. Every day we hear the stories of parents who are forced to choose between their children’s health and the financial well-being of their family; lower-wage workers who have to put off visits to the doctor and sacrifice their health to avoid losing their jobs; and workers with conditions like asthma and diabetes that require ongoing care but who are forced to put their long-term health in danger because they have no sick time. This study shows the power of a simple common-sense policy in improving the lives of these workers and their families.”

Read the original NPWF blog post and learn more about San Francisco’s paid sick days ordinance here.


1Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR)

[ii] IWPR