Earned Sick Days Will Boost the Economy, Protect Public Health, And Save Philly $10.3 Million A Year
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday March 14, 2013
PHILADELPHIA—Philadelphia City Council members voted to pass the Healthy Families and Workplaces Bill on Thursday morning, taking the next critical step in making Philadelphia the latest city in a growing national movement to adopt a paid sick days policy. Passed with strong support from local small businesses, workers, civil rights organizations, advocacy groups for seniors, women, children and the disabled, public health experts, community groups and healthcare professionals, the bill will extend earned sick days to nearly 200,000 workers in Philadelphia, so they are no longer forced to work sick or risk losing critical income or their job. Recent data from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research shows sick days will save Philadelphia businesses more than half a million dollars peryear by reducing turnover and increasing productivity, and it will save the city an estimated $10.3 million a year in healthcare costs by reducing preventable emergency room visits.
“Earned sick days is a smart economic policy and it’s the right policy for Philadelphia,” said Councilman Bill Greenlee, who championed the bill. “We need to make sure that working families can cover the basics by enabling them to hang on to critical income when they or their families are ill.”
During the vote, more than 100 people organized by Philadelphia’s Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces filled the room to show their support. The bill will enable workers to earn one hour of sick time for every 40 hours worked, while protecting the flexibility that small business owners need tothrive. The vote in Philadelphia follows a victory in Portland, Oregon, where the city council voted unanimously in favor of paid sick days on Wednesday morning, making it the fourth city to adopt a paid sick days policy.
“For too many Philadelphia families, taking a child to the doctor or staying home with the flu meant losing needed pay – or even a job,” said Marianne Bellesorte, Senior Director of Public Policy and Media Relations at PathWays PA. “Today the City Council stood with Philadelphia’s families by passing paid sick days, so workers can cover the basics bymaking sure families don’t lose critical income or their jobs when they getsick.”
Introduced with eight co-sponsors, and the support of Philadelphia’s Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces, earned sick days passed with eleven votes from Councilman Bill Greenlee, Council President Darrell Clarke, Councilman Curtis Jones, Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez, Councilwoman Cindy Bass, Councilwoman Marian Tasco, Councilman W. Wilson Goode, Jr., Councilman Bobby Henon, Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, and Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown.
“Turnover among employees is a major cost and a top concern for. When we take care of our employees, they take care of us, and our business thrives,” said Yvonne Thomas, an Action United member and owner of Precious Babies, a daycare in North Philadelphia. “As a business owner, I also can tell you that we need people coming through our doors with money in their pockets. Paid sick days will help Philly’s families—and my customers—stay afloat financially even if they get sick, and that’s good for business.”
In June 2011, Philadelphia City Council passed a similar bill, which Mayor Nutter overturned, going against the will of the Council. The City Council then passed a version of the sick days bill as part of the 21st Century Minimum Wage and Benefits Standard, extending paid sick day protections to employees of some companies that contract with or get subsidies from the City.
“Thankfully I have earned sick days and I don’t know what I would do without them. When I get sick, I am able to go to the doctor and move on. That’s the way it should be for every working person in Philadelphia,” said 32BJ SEIU member Darren McKoy.
Council’s passage of sick days in Philadelphia follows recent wins in Portland, Oregon on Thursday, Connecticut, which passed the first statewide law in 2011, Seattle in 2011, Washington DC in 2008, San Francisco in 2006, and a victorious ballot initiative in Long Beach, California that granted sick days to hotel workers in November 2012.
FOR MOREBACKGROUND ON PAID SICK DAYS POLICIES:
Economists say job retention policies like earned sick days help reduce unemployment and strengthen economic recovery. Nearly one in four workers in America report that they have lost a job, or were threatened with losing a job because they took time off when they were sick or to care for a sick family member. For families living paycheck-to-paycheck, losing just a few days’ wages can be devastating. For a typical family without paid sick days, just 3.5 days with no pay is equivalent to losing an entire month’s groceries.
Practical experiences with the paid sick days policies in other cities and states show a positive impact. In Connecticut, which passed the first statewide paid sick days law in 2011, the Department of Labor reports that employment has grown since the law’s passage, particularly in the Leisure and Hospitality and Education and Health Services sectors, the two most impacted by the new law. San Francisco, which has had an earned sick days law for six years, was rated by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2012 as one of the top cities in the world to do business, and more than two in three San Francisco businesses now support the local law, with six in seven reporting no negative impact on profitability.
The Center for Disease Control estimates the average annual cost to employers of the flu at $10.4 billion, with the cost of this year’s epidemic expected to be much higher, one of the many reasons that business owners are increasingly supporting earned sick time legislation. Beyond the economic benefits, paid sick day policies offer immediate public health benefits. The CDC also estimates that 7 million Americans were infected by co-workers who went to work sick during the 2009 H1N1 outbreak.
There is a growing national movement to strengthen economic security for working families and protect public health by enabling workers to earn paid time off to be used when they or a loved one are sick. On Wednesday, City Council in Portland, Oregon voted unanimously to adopt paid sick days, becoming the fourth city to adopt a sick days law. Bills are moving forward in New York City, Washington State, Vermont, and Massachusetts. Residents of Orange County, Florida will be able to vote for paid sick days in August 2014 thanks to the 50,000 voters who petitioned for the ballot initiative.
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Action AIDS ▪ ACTION United ▪ African American United Fund ▪ AFSCME DC47 ▪ AIDS Fund ▪ Asian Americans United ▪ American Federation of Teachers Local 2026 ▪ Americans for Democratic Action of Southeastern Pennsylvania ▪ Bebashi: Transition to Hope ▪ Bread and Roses ▪ Ceiba ▪ Center for the Empowerment of Women ▪ Childspace CDI ▪ ChristMissionary Crusade Fellowship Church ▪ Coalition of Labor Union Women ▪Covenant House ▪ Delaware Valley Associations for the Education of Young Children ▪ Dignity Housing ▪ Disabled in Action of Pennsylvania ▪ District 1199C Training Upgrading Fund ▪ East Parkside Resident Association ▪ Easter Seals ▪ Ebenezer Temple Pentacostal Church ▪ Education Not Incarceration – Delaware Valley Chapter ▪ Family Planning Council ▪ Family Practice & Counseling Network ▪ Galaei ▪ Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger ▪ Green Party ofPhiladelphia ▪ Health Care for All Philadelphia ▪ Healthcare NOW ▪ Health Federation of Philadelphia ▪ Health Professionals and Allied Employees, Local 5106 Temple/Episcopal ▪ Impact Services Corporation ▪ Institute for theAdvancement of Working Families ▪ Interfaith Hospitality Network of Northwest Philadelphia ▪ Interim House ▪ Jewish Labor Committee ▪ Jobs with Justice ▪ Juntos ▪ Keystone Progress ▪ Keystone Research Center ▪ Linda Creed Cancer Center ▪ Living Water United Church of Christ ▪ Maternity Care Coalition ▪ Mazzoni Center ▪ Media Mobilizing Project ▪ Mount Pisgah A. M. E. Church ▪ Moxie Women ▪ National Association of Social Workers – PA Chapter ▪ National Council of Jewish Women – Greater Philadelphia Section ▪ National LawyersGuild, Philadelphia Chapter ▪ National Nursing Centers Consortium ▪ National Organization for Women (Phila. Chapter) ▪Neighborhood Interfaith Movement ▪ Neighborhood Networks ▪ New World Association ▪ New Sanctuary Movement ▪ PathWays PA ▪ Penn ACTION ▪ Pennsylvania AFL-CIO ▪ Pennsylvania AIDS Law Project ▪ Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Partners ▪ Pennsylvania Coalition of Nurse Practitioners ▪ Pennsylvania Council of Churches ▪ Pennsylvania NOW, Inc. ▪ Pennsylvania Direct Care Workers Association ▪ People’s Emergency Center ▪ PFT (AFT 3) ▪ Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO ▪ Philadelphia Family Pride ▪ Philadelphia FIGHT ▪ Philadelphia Jewish Labor Council ▪ Philadelphia Physicians for Social Responsibility ▪ Philadelphia Security Officers Union ▪ Philadelphia Student Union ▪ Philadelphia Unemployment Project ▪ PhilaPOSH ▪ Philly for Change ▪ Project H.O.M.E. ▪ Public Citizens for Children and Youth ▪ Reconstruction, Inc ▪ SEIU 32BJ ▪ SEIU Healthcare PA ▪ SeniorLAW Center ▪ Support Center for Child Advocates ▪ Taxi Workers Alliance for Pennsylvania ▪ Teacher Action Group Philadelphia ▪ The Campaign for Working Families ▪ Training for Change ▪ TWU Local 234 ▪ TURN ▪ UFCW Local 1776 ▪ USW 10-1 ▪ William Way ▪ Witnesses to Hunger ▪ Women Against Abuse ▪ Women’s Community Revitalization Project ▪ Women in Transition ▪ Women’s Law Project ▪ Women Organized Against Rape ▪ WOMEN’S WAY ▪ Women Vote PA ▪ Working America ▪ Working Group for Grassroots Movement ▪ Youth Services, Inc.
National Partners
9to5, National Association of Working Women ▪ A Better Balance ▪ CLASP ▪ Direct Care Alliance ▪ Family Values @ Work Consortium ▪ Institute for Women’s Policy Research ▪ MomsRising ▪ National Partnership for Women & Families ▪ RestaurantOpportunities Centers United (ROC)
CONTACT: Emma Stieglitz, emmaS@berlinrosen.com, (646) 200-5307
Jonathan Lipman, lipman@berlinrosen.com, (773) 580-1603
