Paid Sick Days Legislation Gaining Momentum

by Claudia Williams

The Institute for Women’s Policy Research(IWPR) continues to lead research in the costs, benefits, and impacts of paid sick days across the country. In February, IWPR released a study that investigates
how well San Francisco’s Paid Sick Leave Ordinance is working.

The study, coauthored by IWPR Research Director Dr. Robert Drago and former IWPR staffer Dr. Vicky Lovell, includes the results of a survey of almost 1,200 workers and about 700 employers in San Francisco. The report, San Francisco’s Paid Sick Leave Ordinance: Outcomes for Employers and Employees, shows that workers’ ability to take time away from work to care for their own health and the health of family members has increased at little or no cost to employers.

According to the study, half of San Francisco workers benefited directly from the Paid Sick Leave Ordinance (PSLO). They gained the ability to use paid sick days either for themselves or to care for a sick child or family member. While workers can use a maximum of nine days if they are employed in large firms (ten or more employees) or five if they are employed in small businesses (fewer than ten employees),the survey findings show more than one-third of workers said they did not use any paid sick days in the previous year.

“San Francisco’s policy helped parents,workers with chronic diseases, low-wage workers, and others, with minimal impact on employers,”

“San Francisco’s policy helped parents,workers with chronic diseases, low-wage workers, and others, with minimal impact on employers,” said Lovell. “The Paid Sick Leave Ordinance serves as a model for therest of the country.”

Six of seven surveyed employers say that San Francisco’s PSLO does not negatively affect their profitability and two thirds said they fully support the PSLO. San Francisco is one of the few cities in the United States in which all employers are mandated by law to provide paid sick days to workers. IWPR’s new study shows that, contrary to what opponents claimed, giving workers paid sick days is good for workers and good for businesses.

With many state legislatures and city councils considering paid sick days laws for employers, the issue has gained attention in the press. Much of the excitement for the report centered on its being the first to analyze the real life effects of paid sick days legislation on a community.