Seattle says every worker deserves paid sick leave

Starting in September, if you work in Seattle you’re going to get
paid sick leave. Seattle is among the first cities in the nation to force
employers to provide paid “sick time/safe time,” as it’s called. It’s already
the law in places such as San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Elliott Bronstein, with the city’s Office for Civil Rights says it’s a
fairness issue and public health benefit that removes an employee
dilemma.

“When someone is sick, they have the option either to take time off
and lose pay that they really need or to come to work sick, which runs
the risk of infecting co-workers, the public, etc,” said Bronstein.

Critics of the mandate argue that 86 percent of full-time workers
already have paid sick leave. But backers of the new law will counter
that three in four food service workers and three in four child care
workers don’t get paid sick time.

The new city law awards paid sick leave based on the number of
hours an employee works; one sick leave hour for every 40 hours
worked for small companies, 30 hours for large firms. But it’s far more
complicated than that, causing concern among business owners.

It applies to companies based outside Seattle whose employees
work in the city.

“For example, a delivery driver who maybe picks up a load outside
the city, drives into Seattle, makes the delivery, leaves the city; well part
of that time is work performed in Seattle and so whether or not that
person is covered by the ordinance depends upon whether they meet a
minimum threshold of hours in the calendar year,” said Seattle labor
attorney Selena Smith. She’s been advising companies working to
implement the new workplace policy. She says it’s complicated and
could require a lot of extra record-keeping to comply.

That’s something that frustrates small business owner Marla Beck,
who says she already treats her employees fairly. She’s getting her small
business, Andel Care, ready to comply with new paid sick leave rules.

“It’s really difficult to track hours by zip code and basically that’s
what they’re asking, so we’d have to go out and buy a whole new
software system, which we can’t afford to do,” complained Beck.

Seattle’s new paid sick leave law covers part-time workers and
temporary workers. It’s adjusted for company size and it allows cash-out
for unused sick leave and also makes exemptions for start-up
companies.

Critics have suggested businesses will slash employees and even
leave town. Attorney Smith says a more likely possibility is that some
firms will reduce sick leave benefits to existing employees.

“They’re (companies) finding that the ordinance is going to require
an increase in costs for some other, newer employees and so in order to
make up some of the costs for implementing more benefits for those
employees, they have to take away (benefits of) some of their more
senior employees,” Smith suggested.

The city’s Brontstein minimizes that fear.

“When I talk to people, and I talk to dozens of people almost every
day, that’s not what I’m hearing. The descent to the bottom line, the
lowest common demoninator is perhaps something that is more feared
than actual in Seattle business practices,” he countered.

Enforcement won’t be Draconian, according to Bronstein. It’ll be
based on complaints.

“We’re basically just going to call the employer and check in with
them and find out what’s happening from their perspective and attempt
whenever possible to simply work it out.”

Beck says she was already revising a sick leave policy at her
business that provides in-home care for seniors, and doesn’t like the
mandate.

“It’s heavy-handed. It’s gonna hurt a lot of businesses and I think
you want to encourage business owners as much as possible because
small business owners create jobs,” she said.

But Bronstein doesn’t think the new mandatory paid sick leave
policy will drive away business. “I think over time, we’ll see a much more
stable work place and I think Seattle will have a reputation as being a
place that people want to work.”

The costs or savings from the plan are debatable. A report by the
Institute for Women’s Policy concludes paid sick leave nationally could
save $1 billion in medical costs annually.