BROWN SIGNS BILL TO GIVE WORKERS PAID SICK LEAVE

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September 13, 2014 (Sacramento)—If you’re a part-time or full-time worker, you’ll soon have at least three paid sick leave days a year, starting in July 2015.

Governor Jerry Brown has signed into law a bill authored by San Diego Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez. The bill is expected to impact 6.5 million workers—40 percent of the state’s workforce that currently lacks paid time off when they are sick.

Under the new law, workers will earn one paid sick day for every 30 hours that they work.

Assemblymember Gonzalez voiced gratitude to her Democratic colleagues for passing the bill, which was opposed by Republicans.  "As a single working Mom, I know first-hand the challenge of having to juggle a sick child who needs to see a doctor and your responsibilities at work,” she stated "But no parent should have to experience the heartache of having to choose between making the rent and taking care of their child.”

The measure was backed by labor groups and opposed by business interests.  Supporters said the bill was necessary to protect the health of workers and others, since employees who come to work sick can infect coworkers and the public.  Opponents argued that the bill would cost employers money.

But the website www.paidsickdays.org  has published a fact sheet indicating that paid sick days actually reduce costs for employers by preventing other employees from becoming ill, while also reducing insurance and public healthcare costs. In San Francisco, many employers initially opposed a similar measure but now, two-thirds of San Francisco employers support the law, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

Governor Brown, in signing the bill into law, stated “When you look at the power and the wealth that is accumulated by a very small percentage, and then you look at the people at the bottom ... this is the least we can do and there's more in the coming years.”  He called the bill, "a real step forward."

Similar measures have been passed by several cities and by the state of Connecticut.  At least 20 states now have paid sick leave measures introduced in their legislatures.

The law exempts workers in a handful of industries, including airline flight crews under federal labor laws,  employees under certain collective bargaining agreements, and state-funded in-home healthcare providers, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Employers are prohibited from retaliating against workers who request paid sick days and can face fines of up to $4,000 a day if they refuse to pay a sick worker or otherwise violate the new law.

 


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