Senate OKs bill limiting Seattle’s sick leave laws

The state Senate has approved a measure to limit Seattle’s sick leave law.

The measure that passed on a 29-20 vote Monday would prohibit local governments from requiring employers to offer paid sick leave unless the business is physically located within the local government’s jurisdiction, or if 85 percent of the hours worked for that employer are worked in the area. The measure now heads to the House, where it is not likely to gain traction.

Seattle’s law requires businesses with at least five employees operating in Seattle to provide paid sick leave to workers.

Business groups took their complaints over Seattle’s new sick leave policy to Olympia, saying the ordinance forces extra paperwork on employers, even those outside the city.

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

Seattle, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., are the only cities that require 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 said they hoped for a fuller discussion on the issue than they got in Seattle.

The sick leave law took effect in September.

An Associated Press report.