Seattle sick leave policy complaints go to Olympia

February 18, 2013 @ 1:20 pm

SEATTLE (AP) - Business groups are taking their complaints over Seattle's new sick leave policy to Olympia, saying the ordinance forces extra paperwork on employers, even those outside the city.

The 2011 ordinance requires businesses with at least five employees working in the city to provide at least five paid sick days a year. Larger employees are required to provide even more sick time.

Nearly 200,000 employees without paid leave were expected to be helped by the move.

A Senate hearing is scheduled Wednesday on two bills proposed by Republicans to repeal or weaken the sick leave ordinance, The Seattle Times ( http://bit.ly/Vrhy6K) reported Monday. Sponsors say the bills stemmed from complaints by business groups.

Seattle, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., are the only cities requiring paid sick leave for most workers. Wisconsin lawmakers overturned a similar law in Milwaukee last summer.

In Olympia, the Association of Washington Business, the Washington Restaurant Association and other business groups say they're hoping for a fuller discussion on the issue than they got in Seattle.

"It was moved through like a freight train," said George Allen of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, which also is pushing for repeal.

Washington Restaurant Association President Anthony Anton said his organization wanted the Seattle City Council to move more slowly but ultimately did not oppose the ordinance.

However, Anton said, the group has received about 100 complaints since the law took effect in September 2012, including some from businesses outside the city that have to comply with the ordinance because it covers any employee who spends at least 240 hours working in the city in a given year.

"These employers are to be tracking their employees' hours from the moment they hit the city limits," Anton said. "The record-keeping requirements to do that are incredible. It's tremendously burdensome."

Elliott Bronstein of Seattle's Office for Civil Rights, which enforces the ordinance, said the out-of-town businesses were never a major target. Only about 10 of the 51 warning letters his office has sent so far have been to businesses based outside Seattle, he said.

Two conservative freshman Republicans have signed on to lead the effort against the ordinance: Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, and Rep. Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg.

Both also agreed to sponsor a second bill that would eliminate Seattle's paid sick leave entirely.

The Democratic caucus was not happy when the bills were introduced last week.

"I guess they just like to beat up on poor people," said Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent.

Seattle city officials said they were not informed of the state proposals and haven't yet formed a response strategy.

Mayor Mike McGinn plans to talk with Braun but signaled in a statement he will oppose any changes to the law.

"Our economic-growth strategy is working here in Seattle," McGinn said. "The state Legislature shouldn't mess with it."

___

Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (3)


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  • calapete wrote...
    GOP, always against the people
    February 13, 2013 11:49 am
    representing the 1% who would rather buy a 3rd vacation home than pay a worker to take a sick day.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • bigdogina4x4 wrote...
    They are not against the people.......
    February 18, 2013 12:00 pm
    This is bad for businesses. You know, the kind that provide jobs and drive our economy. It's rather amazing how liberal feel entitled to stuff, like sick days.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Cbrew wrote...
    Sick days are needed.... Businesses unfortunately are taking advantage of their people....
    February 18, 2013 1:08 pm
    I'm sorry but you guys shouldn't debate a right vs left argument here about how this costs employers or whatever... Workers should get sick days, for cryin out loud, not all businesses have morals and forcing employees to work through legitimate ailments is not a good thing.. in fact it ties right into our growing health care problems in this country... Sick days are important, people should not have to choose between getting even sicker, or paying the bills... that's too much, employers need to be willing to afford sick days, this is some of the same crap that caused the formation of unions in the first place... push the workers too far and you'll end up with these crazy unions popping up and then you got a whole new beast to worry about...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }