Washington, D.C., May Become Second City with Paid Sick Leave

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/03/05/washington-dc-may-become-second-city-with-paid-sick-leave/

by Mike Hall, Mar 5, 2008

Washington, D.C., could soon become the second city in the nation to require employers to provide workers with paid sick leave days if the mayor and Congress approve a measure the District of Columbia City Council passed yesterday. But union members and communities allies who worked for the bill’s passage are decrying efforts by local corporations that ultimately persuaded the City Council to weaken the original bill. The most damaging change was an amendment that requires workers to be on the job for 12 months before becoming eligible.

Metropolitan Washington (D.C.) Council President Jos Williams, quoted in the council’s daily news update Union City, summed it up:

Sick workers shouldn’t have to wait to take the time needed to get better. This onerous requirement is a fatal flaw in this landmark legislation.

There are some 200,000 workers in the district who have no paid sick leave—and who work in the shadow of the Capitol and White House, where members of Congress and President Bush receive paid sick leave at taxpayer expense. Because of the many workers—including part-time and seasonal workers—in low-wage food service, retail and construction jobs, these workers are unlikely to meet the one-year requirement.

The bill provides full-time workers at companies with 100 or more employees seven paid leave days a year. It reduces the number of leave days on a sliding scale for smaller companies, down to three days per year for workers at businesses with 24 or fewer employees.

It allows workers to use the leave as “safe” days for victims of stalking, domestic violence or abuse. It also allows workers to use the paid sick or “safe” days to care for family members.

FULL story at link.