Who Supports a Paid Sick Days Standard?

Everyone Gets Sick. Not Everyone Has Time To Get Better.

A Brieng Book On Establishing A Paid Sick Days Standard November 2010

In October, I got very sick with diverticulitis. My doctor put me on bed rest for two weeks. While I was out, my boss hounded me to come back, but I was way too sick. I told him I would be back as soon as I could. I was not receiving sick pay at all.

When I did go back to work early, he fired me and told me he needed someone he could count on. I worked for this man for two years. I was shocked. Sometimes things happen and you get sick. How are you to foresee these things?

— Heather, Cedar Crest, New Mexico

2 Everyone Gets Sick. Not Everyone Has Time To Get Better.

Nearly two in five private sector workers—about forty million people—don’t have a single paid sick day to recover from common, short-term illnesses. Millions more lack paid sick days to care for a sick child.

Workers without paid sick days face an impossible choice when illness strikes. Either they go to work sick (or send a sick child to school or daycare)—or they stay home, lose pay, and risk job loss or workplace discipline. Particularly in this economy, many workers simply can’t afford to jeopardize the economic security of their families by staying home.

When workers lack access to paid sick days, contagious illnesses spread through our workplaces and schools. Workers without paid sick days are more likely to go to work sick with an illness like the flu and are more likely to send a sick child to school than workers who have paid sick days. As a result, the public’s health is put at risk.

Working people shouldn’t be forced to choose between being responsible employees and conscientious community members. A national workplace standard of paid sick days would allow workers to be both.

San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Milwaukee have already passed laws that allow workers citywide to earn paid sick days to recover from a short-term illness, care for a sick family member, or seek routine medical care. And momentum for paid sick days policies is building nationwide and in states and cities across the country.

Join us in supporting a national paid sick days standard.

I had to work while having bouts of awful bronchitis and walking pneumonia. I got no time off at all even when I was in severe pain, coughing up phlegm or vomiting. Instead I had to act like I wasn’t sick, and keep up the same standards and smiling face….

I couldn’t take unpaid days off from work because I couldn’t afford to do that. I needed the money to pay for things like rent and food. When my quality of work suffered substantially from having to go to work while so sick, I was fired from my job because according to my then-supervisor, I did not create a happy environment for the customers.

— Noel, Bellingham, Washington

4 Establishing Paid Sick Days as a Minimum Labor Standard

Without a Basic Standard of Paid Sick Days, Millions of Our Nation’s Workers Forgo Pay and Risk Job Loss Simply by Getting Sick. . About 40 million workers across the country—from Maine to Washington State—lack the ability to take time away from work when they are ill. Millions more lack sick time that can be used to care for a sick child or family member. Overall, nearly four in ten private sector workers lack access to any paid, job-protected sick time. Among the lowest-wage workers, eight in ten lose income and risk job loss or workplace discipline when they are ill.1 . Getting sick has serious economic consequences for workers and their families. Nearly one quarter of adults in the U.S. (23 percent) report that they have lost a job or have been threatened with job loss for taking time off due to illness or to care for a sick child or relative.2 Nearly one in six (16 percent) report that they or a family member have been fired, disciplined, written up, or threatened with firing or workplace discipline for taking sick time.3 . In this economic climate—where unemployment means months of searching for new work—workers should not have to face the awful choice between caring for their health and keeping their paychecks or jobs. . The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) does not guarantee workers paid sick days—and neither do any state laws. A labor standard guaranteeing workers the ability to earn paid, job-protected sick days would help ensure that workers don’t have to choose between their health and their economic security.

When Workers Don’t Have Paid Sick Days, the Spread of Contagious Illness Jeopardizes Public Health.

Public Health Example One: The H1N1 Flu Pandemic . During the peak months of the Fall 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, almost 26 million working people age 18 and older may have been infected with H1N1 flu virus. Overall, 8 million workers went to work sick between September and November 2009 and may have infected up to 7 million of their co-workers.4 . During the height of the H1N1 pandemic, workers with lower rates of access to paid sick days were far more likely than those with higher rates of access to paid sick days to go to work sick and, as a result, the pandemic lasted longer in their workplaces as the virus spread from co-worker to co-worker.5 . Economic pressures and anxiety surely affected workers’ decisions to go to work ill. When asked what problems they would encounter if they had to stay home for seven to ten days due to H1N1, 44 percent of U.S. adults surveyed said that they or a household member would “lose pay and have money problems.”6 . A Centers for Disease Control survey of parents at a Pennsylvania elementary school found that more than one in five (22 percent) had to miss work to stay home with their child during a week-long H1N1-related school closing in 2009—and 40 percent of the parents who stayed home missed an entire work week.7 For parents without paid sick days, that time off work undoubtedly came at a high cost.

1 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, Employee Benefits in the United States, Table 6: Selected Paid Leave Benefits: Access. March 2010. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ebs2.t06.htm. 2 National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago for the Public Welfare Foundation, Paid Sick Days: Attitudes and Experiences. May 2010. http://www.publicwelfare.org/resources/DocFiles/psd2010final.pdf. 3 Ibid. 4 Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Sick at Work: Infected Employees in the Workplace During the H1N1 Pandemic. Feb. 2010. http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/B284sickatwork.pdf. 5 Ibid. 6 Robert J. Blendon et al., Influenza A (H1N1)/Swine Flu Survey III. Harvard Opinion Research Program, Harvard School of Public Health. June 2009. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/files/Swine_Flu_Topline_7.15.09.pdf. 7 Thomas Gift, et al., Household Effects of School Closure During Pandemic (H1N1) 2009, Pennsylvania, USA. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. July 2010. http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/16/8/PDF/09-1827.pdf. 5 Public Health Example Two: A Stomach Virus Outbreak Access to paid sick days matters. . Workers who have jobs requiring frequent contact with the public and Adults without access to paid sick days are 1.5 our food are among the least likely to times more likely than adults with paid sick days have job-protected paid time off. to report going to work with a contagious illness Nearly three in four food service like the flu or a viral infection. workers (73 percent) lack access to even a single paid sick day.8 Parents without access to paid sick days are more . The Food and Drug Administration than twice as likely as parents with paid sick days guidelines recommend that workers to send a sick child to school or daycare. with norovirus-related illnesses work on a restricted basis until 24 hours (Source: National Opinion Research Center at the University after symptoms subside.9 Since most of Chicago for the Public Welfare Foundation, Paid Sick Days: food service establishments don’t Attitudes and Experiences, March 2010) offer paid sick time, workers are forced to take unpaid leave or work sick. . When a worker at a Chipotle restaurant in Kent, Ohio had no choice but to come to work sick with the norovirus, over 500 people became violently ill. The outbreak cost the Kent community between $130,000 and $300,000.10 . While the Kent Chipotle example is one of the most researched outbreaks in recent years, it is not an isolated incident. Each year, there are approximately 76 million cases of foodborne illness nationwide.11

Without a Paid Sick Days Standard, Health Care Costs Rise. . Unnecessary emergency room visits burden our health care system and cost billions of dollars per year. Yet without access to paid sick days, workers have no choice but to use emergency rooms to seek care during non-work hours. . Adults without access to paid sick days are twice as likely to report going to a hospital emergency room because of their inability to take time from work to get medical care during regular work hours.12 . Parents without access to paid sick days are five times as likely as parents with paid sick days to report taking a child or another family member to a hospital emergency room—overall, 35 percent of parents without paid sick days have taken a child or family member to an ER because they could not take time off work to get medical care during work hours.13

8 Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, Expanding Access to Paid Sick Leave: The Impact of the Healthy Families Act on America’s Workers. March 2010. http://jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=abf8aca7-6b94-4152-b720-2d8d04b81ed6. 9 Supplement to the 2009 FDA Food Code. www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/RetailFoodProtection/FoodCode/FoodCode2009/ucm189171.htm. 10 Policy Matters Ohio, Outbreak in Ohio: Cost of the 2008 Norovirus Incident in Kent. http://www.policymattersohio.org/outbreakinohio2008.htm. 11 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Foodborne Illness. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/foodborneinfections_g.htm. 12 See note 2. 13 Ibid. (Unpublished calculation) 6 Without a Paid Sick Days Standard, Public Policies Fail to Account for the Responsibilities of Millions of Working Caregivers. . Children get well faster when a parent cares for them. But in nearly two-thirds of families with children, all adults in the household work.14 Fifty-three percent of working mothers and 48 percent of working fathers don’t have paid sick days to care for an ill child.15 . Millions of working people provide care for ill and aging family members and need time away from work to do so—to take older parents, spouses, or other relatives to medical appointments or provide care when acute health episodes occur. A study of workers found that one-third reported caring for an older relative in the previous year.16 And 44 million adults over age 18 provide support to older people and adults with disabilities.17

A Paid Sick Days Standard Would Level the Playing Field for Employers Who Already Do the Right Thing for Their Workers and the Public. . Research confirms what responsible employers already know: When businesses take care of their workers, “presenteeism” declines and retention improves—and businesses benefit from a more committed, productive workforce.18 . Establishing a minimum standard of paid sick days would level the playing field for businesses that already offer paid sick days to their workers by eliminating the perceived economic disadvantage of providing paid sick days.

. Employers would be free to go above the standard to address particular needs of their workers. Indeed, many employers already offer more than seven paid sick days to their employees: Private-sector employees whose employers already offer paid sick days have access to an average of eight days per year after one year on the job; workers in larger companies have an average of 11 paid sick days per year.19

The director of operations and development at a small New York City restaurant recently estimated at a Congressional briefing that turnover costs in the restaurant industry total about $1,000 per employee. She noted that because her business offers paid sick days and other good work-family policies, their turnover rate is only 30 percent annually—compared to an industry standard of 200 percent.

(Source: Statement of Holly Howard, Egg Restaurant, Brooklyn, NY, 9/30/2010)

14 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, Table 4. Families with own children: Employment status of parents by age of youngest child and family type, 2008-09 annual averages (2009 data). http://www.bls.gov/news.release/famee.t04.htm. (Unpublished calculation) 15 Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Women and Paid Sick Days: Crucial for Family Well-Being. Feb. 2007. http://ww.iwpr.org/pdf/B254_paidsickdaysFS.pdf. 16 Families and Work Institute, Highlights of the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce. 2002. http://www.familiesandwork.org/ site/work/workforce/2002nscw.html. 17 Family Caregiver’s Alliance, Caregiving and Retirement: What Happens to Family Caregivers Who Leave the Workforce. 2003. http://www.caregiver.org/caregiver/jsp/content_node.jsp?nodeid=1054. 18 Vicky Lovell, Valuing Good Health: An Estimate of Costs and Savings for the Healthy Families Act. Institute for Women’s Policy Research. 2005. http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/B248.pdf. 19 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Program Perspectives on Paid Sick Leave: Paid Sick Leave in the United States. March 2010, www.bls.gov/opub/perspectives/program_perspectives_vol2_issue2.pdf (reporting 2009 National Compensation Survey data). 7 The Public Strongly Supports Paid Sick Days

Three-quarters of the public support a law guaranteeing all workers a minimum number of paid sick days, according to a 2010 survey conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.20

. The public strongly favors a law ensuring paid sick days. Seventy-five percent agree that paid sick days are a basic worker’s right. A full 86 percent favor a proposed law guaranteeing up to 7 paid sick days annually.

. The public favors elected officials who support a basic standard of paid sick days. Forty-seven percent say they are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports paid sick days for all workers, while only 14 percent would be less likely to do so—a net advantage of 33 percentage points. In contrast, respondents are disinclined to support a candidate who opposes paid sick days for all workers.

. Public support for a paid sick days standard is comparable to other basic labor standards. Respondents rank paid sick days on par with minimum wage and overtime pay as standards to protect workers’ rights. Having paid sick days is seen as “very important” by 69 percent of those surveyed.

. Workers face discipline on the job when they need time off due to illness. Nearly one in six respondents (16 percent) say that they or a family member has been fired, suspended, punished, or threatened with being fired for taking time off due to personal illness or to care for a sick child or relative.

. Workers without paid sick days are significantly more likely to go to work sick and send their child to school sick. Fifty-five percent of adults without paid sick days report going to work with the flu or other contagious illness, compared to 37 percent of workers with paid sick days. Twenty-eight percent of parents without paid sick days report sending their child to school or daycare sick, compared to 13 percent of parents with paid sick days.

Public Support for a Law Guaranteeing a Minimum Number of Paid Sick Days

By Party Identification 89% 92% 92% 77% 78% 73%

59%

Strong Weak Democrat Democratic- Independent Republican- Weak Strong Democrat leaning leaning Republican Republican Independent Independent

20 See note 2. 8 Busting the Myths About Paid Sick Days

SAS, the largest privately-held Myth #1: A basic workplace standard of paid sick days software company in the world, isn’t needed. Workers can rely on voluntary employer with roughly $2 billion in policies that address their needs. revenues and approximately 5,000 Currently, no federal law guarantees paid sick days, and employees in the U.S., offers working families must rely on voluntary workplace policies. unlimited paid sick days to their Consequently, nearly 40 percent of private-sector workers workforce. lack even a single paid sick day.21 And the disparity between the lowest and highest wage workers is striking: While 86 The company believes that percent of workers in the highest tenth of private sector wage employee satisfaction drives earners have access to paid sick days, only 19 percent of their profitability. SAS’s workers in the lowest tenth of wage earners do.22 employee turnover rate is a low Two in five low-income working parents (41 percent), with four percent, compared to a household incomes below twice the poverty level, do not national average of around 20 have any paid time off at all: no paid sick time, no paid percent. The “savings in reduced vacation and no paid personal days.23 As a result, working employee turnover, recruitment, people are forced to choose between taking care of their own and retention costs has been health or a sick child or family member, and losing their pay— estimated to be on the magnitude or even losing their job. An ordinary illness like the flu can of $60 to $80 million annually.” have devastating economic consequences for a struggling family. Clearly, reliance on voluntary benefits is not enough. (Source: Testimony of Laura Kellison Wallace, Manager of the SAS Work/Life and EAP Programs, before the Joint Myth #2: A paid sick days standard is a “job killer”—it Economic Committee, 6/14/2007) would force employers to cut wages or workers. A paid sick days policy can be implemented without negative impacts for businesses or workers. While a paid sick days law would impose modest costs, it is also likely to help business by reducing turnover and improving worker productivity. The success of San Francisco’s law proves that a paid sick days policy is not a “job killer.” Since 2007, job growth has been consistently higher in San Francisco than in neighboring counties that lack a paid sick days law. Total employment in San Francisco increased 3.5 percent between 2006 and 2010, while employment in five neighboring counties fell by 3.4 percent overall. In addition, San Francisco experienced stronger employment growth than neighboring counties in the industries that are most affected by a paid sick days law: leisure and hospitality, accommodation, and food services. And the overall number of businesses—both small and large—has grown more rapidly in San Francisco than in its five neighboring counties.24 Responsible employers already know that offering paid sick days makes business sense: When companies respond to the needs of working families, workers are committed and productive, and workplaces stay healthy. According to Jennifer Owens of Working Mother Media, an expert on best workplace practices, nearly nine in ten employers on Working Mother magazine’s 100 Best Companies list offer paid sick time to their employees. Furthermore, Working Mother Media supports paid sick

21 See note 1. 22 Ibid. 23 Urban Institute, Getting Time Off: Access to Leave among Working Parents. April 2004. www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=310977. 24 John Petro, Paid Sick Leave Does Not Harm Business Growth or Job Growth, Drum Major Institute for Public Policy. Oct. 2010. http://www.drummajorinstitute.org/pdfs/Paid_Sick_Leave_Does_Not_Harm.pdf. 9 days legislation as an employer with its own staff. According to Ms. Owens, Working Mother Media advocates for the legislation “because it fits snugly with our mission to celebrate the companies that support working families, both at work and home.”25

Myth #3: Setting a standard of paid sick days make businesses less flexible. In other words, a “one-size-fits-all policy” is bad for business. It’s clear that workers need paid sick days—and the public overwhelmingly supports workers having access to paid sick days. But businesses aren’t addressing this need. A paid sick days standard will simply create a floor—a minimum number of paid sick days that workers may earn. Employers are free to go beyond this floor to create policies that further meet the needs of their workforce. A minimum labor standard of paid sick days would ensure businesses are addressing workers’ basic needs. A labor standard of paid sick days would also level the playing field for businesses that already offer paid sick days to their workers.

According to Donna Levitt, Myth #4: Small businesses will go out of business Manager of San Francisco’s Office with a paid sick days law. of Labor Standards Enforcement: San Francisco’s experience with paid sick days “I am not aware of any demonstrates that small business will not fail. When employers in San Francisco businesses do not offer sick employees the ability to who have reduced staff or made stay home, businesses face higher turnover, and must any other significant changes in spend more on hiring and training new workers. They their business as a result of the also risk employees spreading illness to other workers sick leave ordinance. and the public, which can have disastrous consequences on a business. In contrast, employer savings from the While San Francisco, like every reduced spread of contagion and reduced turnover for community, has suffered in the all wage and salary workers is estimated to be $4.21 per current recession, to my week.26 knowledge no employers have cited the sick leave requirement as a reason for Myth #5: Restaurants have small profit margins closing or reducing their and large labor forces. They can’t afford to offer business operations in the city.” paid sick days. (Source: Statement by Donna Levitt to While there are some costs to employers offering paid the House Subcommittee on Workforce sick days, the costs of not doing so are even greater. Protections, 6/25/2009) Without paid sick days, one worker with no choice but to come in to work sick could spur disastrous consequences. A single foodborne outbreak has been estimated to cost a restaurant up to $75,000 in direct costs, including clean-up, re-staffing, restocking, settlements, and regulatory sanctions. The cost of an outbreak rises dramatically if it involves death or serious illness. The indirect costs of a foodborne illness outbreak for a chain restaurant—including negative public opinion, which affects other operations in a metropolitan area—can be up to $7 million.27 And, of course, the costs to the American public of such an outbreak—including lost work costs and medical and hospitalization bills—are tremendous.

25 Jennifer Owens, Senior Director, Editorial Research and Initiatives, Working Mother Media, Remarks at the Congressional Briefing on Paid Sick Days and the Healthy Families Act. March 2, 2010. 26 See note 18. 27 Norman G. Marriott, Principles of Food Sanitation. 1999. 10 Myth #6: Jobs will be outsourced if a paid sick days law is passed. The majority of workers who would benefit most from paid sick days are in jobs that are the least likely to be outsourced because they involve direct contact with customers. For example, three in four food service and hotel workers (73 percent) don’t have a single paid sick day to use when they are ill. Majorities of child care and personal care workers also lack paid sick days.28

Myth #7: Workers with access to paid sick days will abuse the policy. The evidence shows that workers with paid sick days take only one additional day off per year on average compared to workers without paid sick days. Workers with access to paid sick days take 3.9 days per year for their own illnesses and 1.3 days to care for other family members. Workers without access to paid sick days take on average 3.0 days off for sickness per year.29 Among workers covered by a paid sick days policy already, half do not use any of their paid sick days.30

Myth #8: Workers don’t need paid sick days. They can just use paid vacation days or flex-time. Cargo Coffee and Ground Zero coffee shops in Madison, Wisc. Most workers who lack paid sick days also lack paid offer paid sick days to all their 24 vacation days. In fact, many workers who don’t have paid sick days don’t have any paid time off at all—no employees. Since these small paid sick, vacation, or personal days.31 Two in five establishments began offering working parents with household incomes below twice paid sick days, productivity has the federal poverty level do not have paid time off of increased among staff, while the any kind.32 In addition, many vacation policies require spread of illness among requesting time off in advance, on a schedule that works employees has decreased. for the employer. But medical needs don’t arise on a Containing the spread of disease predictable schedule. is critical in the restaurant Flexible scheduling does not meet the same needs as industry. paid sick days. Many workers who would benefit from a paid sick days standard work on strict schedules with set Lindsey Lee, the owner of the hours that may be determined solely by their employers coffee shops, believes that his and on short notice. These workers are very unlikely to “business would benefit from a be given the option of flexible working schedules. In national standard of paid sick most cases, flex-time does not give workers the option days because it would level the to choose their work hours. When workers’ schedules playing field among competitors are at the discretion of their employers, they are not who don’t currently offer paid guaranteed time off when they need it most—when they sick days to their employees.” are sick or when they must care for an ill family member.

28 See note 8. 29 Institute for Women’s Policy Research analysis of the 2004 National Health Interview Survey. 30 Heidi Hartmann, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Feb. 13, 2007. 31 Institute for Women’s Policy Research, No Time to be Sick. 2004. www.iwpr.org/pdf/B242.pdf. 32 See note 23. 11

The U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce supports a minimum standard for paid sick days. Healthy businesses need healthy workers, which is precisely what paid sick days accomplish….

Paid sick days are an investment in our families, our workforce, and our health that we cannot afford to do without.

— Margot Dorfman, CEO U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce

12 Proposed Federal Legislation: The Healthy Families Act (111th Congress: HR 2460/S 1152)

The Healthy Families Act establishes a basic workplace standard of paid sick days so that workers aren’t forced to risk their jobs or paychecks to care for their health.

The Goals of the Healthy Families Act

 Establishes a minimum labor standard that “Every worker should have paid sick days—it allows workers to earn up to seven days per is a matter of right and wrong. Being a year of paid, job-protected time off to working parent should not mean choosing recover from illness, to care for a sick family between your job, taking care of yourself, and member, or to seek preventative health taking care of your family.” care. — Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro

 Ensures that working families don’t have to risk their financial security to do what is right for their own health and the wellbeing of their workplaces, schools, and communities.

 Protects the public health by allowing ill people an alternative to going to work or school sick and avoiding the further spread of illness.

 Enables victims of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault to take paid, job-protected time off to recover from incidents and seek assistance from the police or court.

 Allows people to take time off to care for ill parents and elderly relatives, or to attend diagnostic or routine medical appointments, without risking their paychecks or jobs.

The Impact of the Healthy Families Act on America’s Working Families

 An additional 30 million workers would have access to paid sick time.

 Ninety percent of all workers would have the right to earn paid sick days—a significant increase from the 62 percent that currently have access to paid sick time.

 The most vulnerable workers would gain access to paid sick time, including: . 15 million additional low-wage workers; . 13 million additional women workers; . 4 million additional African American workers; . 6 million additional food-service workers; and . 6 million additional Latino workers.33

33 See note 8 (JEC analysis of the Healthy Families Act as introduced in the 111th Congress). 13

State and Local Action State and Local Paid Sickon DaysPaid SickCampaigns Days as of June 2010

In 2006, San Francisco became the first locality in the nation to guarantee paid sick days for all its workers. In 2008, Washington, DC and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, passed paid sick days stan- It’s cleardards, that and a nationalbecame thepaid first sick to days offer movement paid safe dayshas emerged. for victims As of of domestic July 2010, violence, legislators sexual and as- advocatessault, wereor stalking. advancing In recent initiatives years, in advocates more than in two states dozen and statescities acrossand cities. the country Three cities have havejoined led thethe way growing by signing paid sick paid days sick movement. days into law. In 2010, legislators and advocates are advancing initiatives in 25 states and cities and in Congress.

Wash.

Maine Montana Milwaukee Vermont Minn.

New Hamp. Wisc. Mass.

NY Rhode Isl.

Conn. San Francisco Penn. Iowa N.J.

Ill. Maryland

Colo. Calif. Mo.

N. Carolina

Arizona

Bills Passed

Ala.

Bills Introduced

or Active

Alaska Campaign

Hawaii

2010 Campaigns Alabama Maine North Carolina Alabama Maine North Carolina Alaska Massachusetts Pennsylvania Alaska Massachusetts Pennsylvania Arizona Minnesota Philadelphia Arizona Minnesota Philadelphia, PA California California MissouriMissouri RhodeRhode Island Island Colorado Colorado MontanaMontana City of TTacomaacoma, WA Connecticut Connecticut NewNew Hampshire Hampshire VermontVermont Hawaii New Jersey Washington Hawaii New Jersey Washington Illinois New York City, NY Wisconsin Illinois New York City Wisconsin Iowa New York State Iowa New York State

14 Local Successes

San Francisco, Milwaukee, and Washington, D.C. have taken action to protect the public health and strengthen family economic security by passing paid sick days legislation.

San Francisco In November 2006, the voters of San Francisco passed a ballot initiative which made their city the first jurisdiction in the country to guarantee paid sick days to all workers. The measure received overwhelming support, winning 61 percent of the vote.34 Under San Francisco’s law, workers earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Workers in businesses with 10 or fewer employees earn up to five days per year, while workers at larger businesses earn up to nine days per year. Workers may use paid sick time to recover from illness, attend doctor visits, or care for a sick child, partner, or designated loved one.35

Washington, D.C. In March 2008, the Washington, D.C. City Council unanimously passed legislation guaranteeing workers the ability to earn paid sick time. Under the Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act, workers in businesses with 100 or more workers earn up to seven days of paid sick leave each year; workers in businesses with 25 – 99 workers earn five days; and workers in businesses with 24 or fewer workers earn three days. This paid time off can be used to recover from illnesses, care for sick family members, seek routine or preventive medical care, or obtain assistance related to domestic violence or sexual assault. Amendments—including exemptions for some restaurant workers, as well as workers in the first year of their jobs—reduced some of the bill’s intended effect, but more than 100,000 workers who did not previously have paid sick time now have it, including many low-wage workers.36 The DC law is also the first in the U.S. to include paid “safe” days for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

Milwaukee In November 2008, voters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, passed a measure with 69 percent of the vote, guaranteeing paid sick and “safe” days for all workers in the city. The ordinance has been challenged in the state courts and has not yet gone into effect. If court challenges are resolved in the measure’s favor, the ordinance will allow workers to earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, up to nine days a year. Workers in businesses with fewer than 10 employees would accrue time off at a rate of one hour for every 50 hours worked, up to five days a year. Workers will be able to use the time for their own illness, family illness, medical appointments, or any absence necessary due to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.37

34 Steven Greenhouse, “With the Democratic Congress, Groups Gear Up for Fight Over Paid Sick Days,” The New York Times. Dec. 5, 2006. www.nytimes.com/2006/12/05/washington/05labor.html?fta=y. 35 San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, Announcement. www.sfgov.org/site/olse_index.asp?id=49389. 36 Nikita Stewart, “Council Approves Sick Leave In District: Bill Will Mandate Paid Job Absences,” The Washington Post. Mar. 5, 2008. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/04/AR2008030402873.html. 37 9to5, National Association of Working Women, Milwaukee website. www.9to5.org/local/mwk. 15 Building Momentum for A Paid Sick Days Standard

Who Supports a Paid Sick Days Standard? A broad-based coalition of national and state women’s, civil rights, health, children’s, faith-based, and labor organizations supports national and state paid sick days legislation.

National Organizations

9to5, National Association of Working Women Half in Ten: The Campaign to Cut Poverty in Half A Better Balance in Ten Years AFL-CIO Human Impact Partners American Association of University Women Human Rights Watch (AAUW) Idaho Women’s Network American Civil Liberties Union Interfaith Worker Justice American Federation of Government Employees International Association of Machinists and American Federation of State, County, and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) Municipal Employees (AFSCME) International Union, United Automobile, American Federation of Teachers Aerospace & Agricultural Implement American Friends Service Committee Workers of America (UAW) American Public Health Association Jewish Labor Committee American Rights at Work Jewish Women International Americans for Democratic Action, Inc. Labor Council for Latin American Advancement Apostolic Catholic Church (LCLAA) Asian American Justice Center Labor Project for Working Families Association of Community Organizations for Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Reform Now (ACORN) Legal Momentum Association of Flight Attendants—CWA NAACP Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law National Association of Child Care Resource and Business and Professional Women’s Foundation Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) Center for American Progress National Association of Social Workers Center for Community Change National Center on Caregiving, Family Caregiver Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) Alliance Church Women United National Partnership for Women & Families Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) Maternity Care Coalition Coalition on Human Needs Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Communication Workers of America (CWA) Office Community of Christ, Ecumenical and Interfaith MomsRising Ministries Ms. Foundation for Women Demos: A Network for Ideas & Action Muslim American Society Freedom Direct Care Alliance National Association of Commissions for Disciples Justice Action Network Women Drum Major Institute for Public Policy National Association of Mothers' Centers Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (NAMC) Families USA National Association of School Nurses Family Values @ Work: A Multi-State National Council of Jewish Women Consortium National Council of Women’s Organizations Friends Committee on National Legislation (NCWO) National Education Association 16 National Employment Law Project The National Council of the Churches of Christ National Latina Institute for Reproductive in the USA Health Trust for America’s Health National Organization for Women (NOW) United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness National Women’s Law Center Ministries NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice United for a Fair Economy Lobby United Food and Commercial Workers Office and Professional Employees International International Union Union (OPEIU) United Methodist Church – General Board of OWL - The Voice of Midlife and Older Women Church and Society Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Washington Office United Steelworkers (USW) Pride At Work, AFL-CIO U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce Progressive States Network Uri L'Tzedek: Orthodox Social Justice Restaurant Opportunities Centers United Voices for America's Children Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law We Are Family Service Employees International Union Wider Opportunities for Women The National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of Women’s Research & Education Institute the Good Shepherd (WREI)

State Organizations

Alaska Idaho Alaska Public Interest Research Group Idaho Women’s Network

California Illinois 9to5 Bay Area Brighton Park Neighborhood Council (Chicago) 9to5 Los Angeles ParentsWork (Evanston) Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center (San Women Employed (Chicago) Francisco) Young Workers United (San Francisco) Iowa Iowa Commission on the Status of Women Colorado 9to5 Colorado Maine Maine Business and Professional Women Connecticut Maine Center for Economic Policy Connecticut Permanent Commission on the Maine Centers for Women, Work, and Status of Women Community Connecticut Working Families Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault Maine Equal Justice District of Columbia Mainely Girls DC Employment Justice Center Maine Women's Health Campaign Maine Women's Lobby Georgia National Association of Social Workers, Maine 9to5 Atlanta National Council of Jewish Women, Southern Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council Maine Georgia Stand-Up WAGE Project Maine

17 Maryland Ohio Montgomery County Commission for Women Policy Matters Ohio

Massachusetts Oregon Crittenton Women's Union Children First for Oregon Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action Women’s Law Project Massachusetts Paid Leave Coalition WOMEN'S WAY

Montana Pennsylvania Working For Equality and Economic Liberation Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition (Helena) Keystone Research Center (Harrisburg) PathWays PA New Hampshire Philadelphia Physicians for Social Responsibility New Hampshire Commission on the Status of Women Texas New Hampshire Women’s Lobby and Alliance Center for Public Policy Priorities (Austin) Workers Defense Project (Austin) New Jersey Family Voices—New Jersey Vermont New Jersey Policy Perspective Vermont Livable Wage Campaign New Jersey Statewide Parent Advocacy Voices for Vermont's Children Network New Jersey Time to Care Coalition Washington Economic Opportunity Institute (Seattle) New Mexico Washington State Family Leave Coalition New Mexico Voices for Children New Mexico Women’s Agenda Wisconsin 9to5 Milwaukee New York Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin New York City Paid Sick Days Campaign Campaign Against Violence (Milwaukee) New York State Paid Family Leave Coalition Citizen Action of Wisconsin Milwaukee Graduate Assistant Association North Carolina Sojourner Family Peace Center (Milwaukee) North Carolina Justice Center

For more information, contact:

National Partnership for Women & Families 1875 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 650 Washington, DC 20009 202.986.2600 ~ 202.986.2539 www.NationalPartnership.org www.PaidSickDays.org

I work hard, both because I love my job and have a responsibility to support my family. Without paid sick days, I would lose my needed income for my family. Everyone gets sick—sometimes I do and sometimes my daughter does.

Everyone deserves the time to get better and take care of their families. Plus, my coworkers don’t need to be exposed to my sick germs! Would you?

Members of Congress get paid sick days—and they should enable all of us to get paid sick days too!

— Becky, Washington, D.C.