NYC gets Paid Sick Leave

After almost three years paid sick leave advocates in New York can exhale. They have a deal. On Friday morning, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (presumptive Bloomberg successor) folded from the pressure of unions, community groups, and the Working Families Party (as well as many others) and agreed to pass a bill that ensures most New Yorkers can’t be fired for taking time off for illness. Sarah Jaffe had a piece on HR Reality Check.

The compromise bill, which Gale Brewer admitted is being written, should cover 964,000 workers when it goes into effect on April 1, 2014. On that date, it will require businesses with 20+ employees to provide up to five paid sick days for those workers. Sick leave will accumulate at the rate of one hour for every thirty hours worked, which means full-time and part-time workers are covered. On October 1, 2015, businesses with less than 20 but more than 15 employees will have to provide sick leave as well.

SEIU 32BJ president Hector Figueroa said, the bill will allow for an examination of its impact in 2016 and a possible reconsideration of the bottom threshold for coverage. The original bill (that Quinn held up for three years) required businesses with more than five employees to provide paid sick leave. Employees of businesses under the threshold received unpaid sick leave, and these accumulate at the same rate. Some industries are except such as manufacturing. Brewer attributed this to a similar exception in Connecticut’s statewide paid sick leave. So naturally, they “want to be competitive.” It also includes exceptions for work-study and other types of student work.

During last week’s hearings, enforcement of the bill was a contentious issue with business reps complaining that the bill would be administered by the city’s health department. Instead the new bill will be administered by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs and requires workers who have complaints file them with the agency. Workers have nine months to make a complaint after the infraction. Quinn emphasized during the press conference that the fines were lowered for businesses that didn’t comply ($500 for the first offence, and increasing after that). Another compromise in the new version of the bill states that if the New York Federal Reserve’s Index of Economic Indicators is lower on January 1, 2014 than it was on January 2, 2012, the bill won’t go into effect. Quinn stressed this point claiming it protects businesses in the case of a sudden economic downturn.

Bloomberg is still opposed to the bill, which is more than likely why Quinn drug her feet for so long. Jaffe says the rally felt like a campaign event with union leaders (who had been pressuring) thanking Quinn for her “leadership”. Figueroa was asked if his union would endorse Quinn, and he responded saying now they have four candidates in favor of paid sick leave.

So the idea is that New York will set an example for the rest of the nation in paid sick leave. I think we can be cautiously optimistic. Remember, according to Brewer the bill isn’t written yet, and it sounds like our team gave up a lot including a failsafe if the economy tanks the bill doesn’t go into effect. But I’ll take any movement on paid sick leave. And fingers-crossed Quinn doesn’t get elected.