September 10, 2009 — New York City is looking to join San Francisco and Washington in requiring businesses to provide paid sick days for employees. A bill pending in the city council would require employers of 10 or more to provide eligible employees with up to nine paid sick days per year. Employees in businesses with fewer than 10 employees could earn five paid sick days a year. Mayor Michael Bloomberg supports the two-tier mandate and has given his qualified endorsement to the proposal.

Under the proposal workers would earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours they work, starting on their 90th day of employment. Employers would decide whether employees could roll over accumulated sick leave from year to year.

Under the proposal, employees could use the time either for their own illness or to take care of a sick relative. Victims of domestic violence would be allowed to use sick days to deal with moving or obtaining services. (The language on domestic violence is similar to a provision in Milwaukee’s paid-sick-leave rule, which voters approved by referendum last year. The Milwaukee rule continues to face legal challenges, in part because of the domestic-violence provision.)

The New York City bill also would let employees draw sick pay to take care of children whose schools have been closed by city officials for public health reasons, even if the children are not themselves sick.

Supporters of the bill are pressing for a hearing late this month or in early October. For more information contact the New York State Restaurant Association.

Although paid-sick-leave legislation has been introduced in 15 states this year, no measure has yet been enacted in 2009. Connecticut's measure cleared the state’s Assembly but stalled after a tie vote in the Senate. In Congress, the Healthy Families Act is pending. The bill would guarantee up to seven paid sick days per year for eligible employees at businesses with 15 or more employees. President Obama supported the bill when he was a senator.

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