Are you entitled to paid sick days?

by: Meghan L. Collins

In light of 1L oral arguments just around the corner, this article will speak to the students arguing the Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. For those unaware, the WARN Act is a federal law that requires companies with 100 or more employees to give at least 60 days’ notice of a plant closing.[1] The WARN Act regulates notice, but are there any other federal laws to regulate employee compensation and benefits?

As of right now, there are a variety of Department of Labor regulated laws governing healthcare, disability leave, and wages in the workplace. These laws, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, cover issues like; enforcing the federal minimum wage, safety conditions in the workplace, compensation for serious illness developed because of exposure in the workplace, and retirement plan regulation.[2] The federal laws governing employee/employer relationships are either very broad (like enforcing federal minimum wage) or very narrow (e.g. Black Lung Benefits Act).[3] Under federal law, it is left up to the employer to determine benefit plans and company policies.

One of those independently determined policies that has started a great nation-wide debate is, paid sick leave.

Last week, Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City, signed his first bill into law surrounded by city council members at Steve’s Ice Cream in Brooklyn.[4] The new law for New York City requires that employers who employ 5 or more workers give five days paid sick leave. The paid sick leave legislation will affect an additional 500,000 workers in New York City starting April 1, 2014. [5]

The New York City bill was met with some opposition in the council meetings due to the implications the law may have on small businesses. This law will make New York City one of seven cities and states in the United States that have a paid sick leave law. The other six areas that have enacted this legislation are: Seattle, WA; Portland, OR; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco, CA; Jersey City, NJ; and the state of Connecticut.[6] The year 2013 saw three of these bills turn into law, however, in the past three years 10 states have passed bans of paid sick leave legislation.[7]

While another handful of states have grassroots efforts to enact paid sick leave in the next year, 14 other states are evaluating bans on paid sick leave.[8] Those in favor of paid sick leave legislation believe that employees deserve the right to get healthy without fearing the loss of their jobs, workers should stay home instead of infecting others, and that worker productivity will increase with paid sick days.

“No one should have to decide between their paycheck and their health, and thanks to expanded earned sick time, thousands more working families won’t have to face that choice,” said New York City Councilwoman, Margaret Chin.[9]

Those in opposition of paid sick leave legislation believe that paid sick leave will significantly increase in operating costs for small businesses and that it would encourage absenteeism which is costly to productivity and employer bottom line.

“Paid sick leave is likely to increase the number of sick days employees take. If the paychecks keep coming, why return to work?” said Marjorie Baldwin, a business professor at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business.[10]

As more and more cities and states move to add paid sick leave legislation to the agenda, this is an issue that will not be going away anytime soon.

The U.S. is the only major industrial country that does not have national paid sick leave laws. In fact, some 40 million Americans do not have paid sick leave.[11] There is no federal law on the books, should there be?