When Mandates Work: Raising Labor Standards at the Local Level

Chapter 7. Universal Paid Sick Leave

197 1 . i n t r o d u c t i o n Of the twenty-two countries with the most highly developed economies, only the United States fails to ensure that workers are provided with pay and job protection when they miss work due to illness (Heymann et al. 2009). Australians are guaranteed ten days of paid sick leave at full pay; in Germany, workers receive full pay for up to six weeks of illness leave and may take up to seventy-eight more weeks at reduced pay. Some employers S E V E N Universal Paid Sick Leave Vicky Lovell *Portions of this chapter are based on or appeared in Robert Drago and Vicky Lovell, “San Francisco’s Paid Sick Leave Ordinance: Outcomes for Employers and Employees” (Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Washington DC, 2011), www.iwpr.org/publications /pubs/San-Fran-PSD. 198 t h e b e n e f i t m a n d a t e s in the United States voluntarily help fill the gap, but 42 percent of workers face a loss of pay if they are too sick to work (Williams et al. 2011). State and federal government employees, white-collar workers, those on full-time work schedules, higher-paid workers, and employees of larger firms are among the groups most likely to have paid sick leave. The typical private sector worker covered by paid sick leave (PSL) in the United States can take up to eight days of leave per year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2010). In November 2006, San Francisco voters approved an ordinance requiring all San Francisco employers to provide PSL to all their workers —the first such mandate in the United States. Under Proposition F, the Paid Sick Leave Ordinance (PSLO), workers earn PSL in proportion to their paid work hours. PSL may be used for workers’ own health needs, including preventive care, and to care for family members (table 7.1). San Francisco’s Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE), which was in place prior to adoption of the PSLO, oversees its implementation. The campaign for the PSLO focused on expected public health bene- fits and was largely unopposed by business interests. Both city officials and San Francisco employer groups have characterized the PSLO as having a low impact on employers and being relatively easy to implement. In 2008, the Golden Gate Restaurant Association called sick leave “an important public policy” and characterized the PSLO as “affordable [for businesses], considering the public benefit.”1 This chapter begins with a brief look at the importance of PSL for workers’ health and economic security and for public health. Section 3 reviews the campaign to pass the law in San Francisco. Section 4 presents an overview of the potential costs and benefits of universal PSL; and section 5 describes two surveys, one of employers and one of workers, conducted to measure the PSLO’s impacts on each group. Sections 6 and 7 present the findings of each of these surveys on the actual impact of San Francisco’s PSLO. Section 8 then assesses the overall effects of the PSLO. The final section discusses efforts to pass PSL policies elsewhere and draws lessons from San Francisco’s PSLO for further policy development. 1 Kevin Westley, executive director, Golden Gate Restaurant Association, quoted in Lifsher 2008. u n i v e r s a l pa i d s i c k l e av e 199 Table 7.1 Key Provisions of the San Francisco Paid Sick Leave Ordinance Topic Provision Eligibility Workers begin to accrue leave after being on the job for 90 days. Accruing leave Workers earn one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours of paid work, to a maximum of 9 days in firms with 10 or more employees and 5 days in smaller firms. Using leave Leave may be used for workers’ own illness, injury, health conditions, and medical appointments and to care for family members or a “designated person.” Rollover Unused leave carries over from one year to the next. Anti-retaliation It is unlawful for employers to retaliate against workers for requesting or using leave under the PSLO. Employer posting Employers are required to post information about the PSLO and maintain records on hours worked and PSD used. Enforcement The San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement has authority to...