Convincing infected workers to stay home is key to controlling the spread of swine flu. But it can be a tough sell for those who don’t get paid sick days — an estimated 1 million city workers.
That’s part of the concept behind a bill introduced to the City Council last month that would require city employers to offer paid sick leave.
“A lot of people have to choose between staying at home and the day’s pay that they need to get by,” says Dan Levitan of the Working Families Party, which is part of a coalition of labor advocates and other groups lobbying for the bill.
“We’re pushing for the Council to act quickly so the bill’s in place for flu season.”
Sponsored by Gayle Brewer of Manhattan, the bill would guarantee up to nine sick days a year for workers at large and medium firms; small businesses would have to offer five. If it passed New York would become the third US city to mandate sick leave, behind San Francisco and Washington, DC.
The bill has strong support in the council, where 37 members have signed on as co-sponsors. But it faces stiff opposition from business groups, who say it puts an unfair burden on employers, especially small ones, at a time when they’re already strained.
“This is a business killer,” says Jack Friedman of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, which last week banded together with the chambers from the other four boroughs to fight the bill.
He cites a local auto dealer that already offers its workers six sick days, and says being forced to provide nine would cost an additional $40,000 to $50,000 a year.
“Businesses will have to cut back benefits in other areas, or reduce their work force,” says Friedman.
Daniel Morris of the Drum Major Institute counters that research in San Francisco showed that business owners actually benefitted from the sick-leave law, due to higher productivity and lower turnover.
As the bill sits in committee, both sides are looking to Mayor Bloomberg, who’s made no commitment beyond expressing limited support for both arguments.
“The mayor believes in paid sick leave, but has concerns about how it should be mandated for the smallest of small businesses,” says spokesman Stu Loeser.
While advocates say the bill addresses that by creating a two-tiered system, Loeser notes that it sets the bar fairly high by defining a small business as one with ten employees or fewer .
“The main question facing us right now is what’s the threshhold for small businesses, and what exactly should they be required to do,” he says.
With the mayor’s office currently working with council staffers on the issue, he says,“It’s not something we have an answer for yet.