Martin Michaels
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has struck down “Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces” a proposed ordinance that would have required companies to offer 180,000 low-wage employees paid sick leave. The bill failed narrowly but would be a welcome change for workers across the city who go to work when they are sick, afraid of losing wages or their jobs if they stay home.
“Going to the clinic, missing three days of work cost me $500 in missed pay and medications and that was a lot of money for me at that time. I had to borrow money to pay rent that month,” said Aaron Bandossen, a Philadelphia restaurant worker speaking about the difficulty of low-wage employees experience without paid sick leave.
The “Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces” ordinance calling for workers to earn paid sick leave passed in March. The measure wouldn’t have affected companies with five or fewer employees but employers with six to 19 workers would have had to offer up to four paid sick days a year and up to seven days for larger employers.
The bill’s sponsor, Councilman At-Large Bill Greenlee, called the veto a “disappointment” for his constituency and approximately 180,000 low-wage workers that would have benefited from enforced paid sick leave. He has vowed to continue the fight, claiming that he is seeking to override the mayor’s veto. The councilman needs 12 votes in order to overturn Nutter’s decision.
“I am confident that by this time next week, workplace rules will become a little fairer for 180,000 hard-working Philadelphians and their families,” Greenlee said.
The fight for paid sick leave in Philadelphia highlights a national problem, as more than 40 million U.S. workers lack this basic protection, leading to billions lost each year because of lower productivity.
The U.S. is the only industrialized country in the world lacking federal legislation requiring that employers provide paid sick leave. Federal employees currently get 13 days and some companies offer sick leave as part of contract agreements.
This leaves behind 38 percent of the workforce, roughly 40 million people lacking this basic protection. This is especially problematic during flu season when millions of ill employees will go into work, fearing that they will lose their jobs if they ask for time off.
“This is not just inhumane but a matter of public health,” wrote Shamus Khan, a public health writer for Time magazine, earlier this year.
“The jobs with the most contact with the public are the least likely to provide sick days, such as the hospitality and food service industries. For example, when you go to purchase a cup of coffee or eat a restaurant, know that almost all [76%] of the people serving you are likely to show up to work sick, because not doing so means not getting paid and could mean getting fired.”