A bill before City Council would mandate private businesses to provide a minimum number of earned sick days for employees, a measure that is LGBT-inclusive.
The Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces measure, introduced by Councilman Darrell Clarke (D-5th Dist.) and Councilman-at-Large Bill Greenlee, could come up for a vote this month.
According to the Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces, the leading agency lobbying for the bill, there are currently about 210,000 workers in Philadelphia who receive no paid sick days at their jobs.
If enacted, the legislation would allow for employees to earn one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked. At larger companies, employees could earn up to 56 hours of sick time annually, or the equivalent of seven eight-hour work days, and up to four days for companies with 10 or fewer employees.
The accrued sick time could be used for the employee or for the individual to care for an ill family member, which is defined as a biological, adopted or foster child, stepchild or a child to whom the employee stands in “loco parentis,” a spouse, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling or domestic partner, among other classifications.
The Family and Medical Leave Act, which authorizes employees at larger private companies to take unpaid sick leave, does not extend to domestic partners.
The bill has the support of more than 100 area businesses and organizations, although the Nutter administration has expressed resistance to the measure, and it is opposed by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.
Independence Business Alliance, Philadelphia’s LGBT chamber of commerce, has not yet taken a formal position on the issue.
A group of LGBT and HIV/AIDS leaders came together at the William Way LGBT Community Center Wednesday to voice their support for the measure.
Marianne Bellesorte, senior director of policy at PathWays PA and a founding member of the Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces, said the measure is vital to Philadelphia families.
“What this would do is make sure all workers have access to earned sick days because they shouldn’t have to choose between the job they need and the family they love,” she said. “We’ve heard so many stories where people have to go to work sick because they can’t afford to take unpaid days and we’ve heard about people being retaliated against when they do have to take time, and it’s something people shouldn’t have to be faced with.”
The bill includes a stipulation that would prohibit retaliation against employees who use their earned sick time.
The measure is modeled after a law adopted in 2007 by San Francisco, the first of its kind in the nation.
Bellesorte noted that numerous businesses in San Francisco originally opposed the measure, but a recent survey showed a majority of city employers now favor the policy since its adoption.
Stephanie Haynes, Philadelphia Family Pride community coordinator and a coalition member, said the legislation’s LGBT relevance is key.
“I think this would really help LGBT Philadelphians,” she said. “Domestic partners are specifically included, so even for people who may otherwise be in a workplace where they’re earning sick days but they’re not allowed to take them to care for their partners, this would allow them to do so. It would be a really big step forward.”
Haynes said she knows parents who’ve had to give their kids Motrin and send them to school when they’re sick because they don’t have the time available to take off work.
“It’s really sad that people should have to choose between their job and wanting to be a good parent,” she said. “And it’s also a matter of public health, when you have kids in school and people in work who are sick.”
For more information on the coalition and the bill, visit www.earnedsickdaysphilly.com.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].