Rhode Island Action Alert: Ask Your State Legislators to Support Temporary Caregiver Insurance

If you live in Rhode Island, or know people who do, please make some calls or share this information if you support Temporary Caregiver Insurance.

From our friends at www.wecareri.org.

Great news. Last week, the Senate Committee on Finance passed the Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI) bill, S-231 - a common-sense proposal to ensure that employees never need to choose between taking care of a family member or keeping their job. TCI is headed to the Senate floor for a vote this Wednesday. The House will then need to act before the session ends this Thursday.

We're asking for five minutes of your time to make four phone calls or emails before this Wednesday. We're depending on your help to make history!

SENATE:

1. Please call or email Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed to thank her for her leadership on this bill (S - 231). She is a co-sponsor of TCI and a strong advocate for this legislation. Phone number: 401-222-6655. Email: sen-paivaweed@rilin.state.ri.us

HOUSE:
2. Please call or email House Finance Chairman Helio Melo to let him know that you support H. 5889, the Temporary Caregiver Insurance bill and urge him to pass it out of the Finance Committee. Phone number: (401) 222-8028. Email: rep-melo@rilin.state.ri.us

3. Please call or email Speaker Gordon Fox to let him know that you support H. 5889, the Temporary Caregiver Insurance bill and urge him to bring it to the floor of the RI House for a vote. Phone number: (401) 222-2466. Email: rep-fox@rilin.state.ri.us

4. Please call or email House Majority Leader Mattiello to let him know that you support H. 5889, the Temporary Caregiver Insurance bill and urge him to bring it to the floor of the RI House for a vote. Phone number: (401) 461-5800. Email: rep-mattiello@rilin.state.ri.us

Suggested call/email script for Melo, Fox and Mattiello:"Hi, this is insert your name from insert your town and I am calling/emailing to let Chairman Melo or Speaker Fox or Majority Leader Mattiello know that I strongly support H. 5889, the Temporary Caregiver Insurance bill because it will help strengthen the Rhode Island economy. I would like to urge him to support TCI and pass the bill this year."

Making these four quick calls/emails will help us tremendously in our effort to pass TCI! Please remember to cite the bill number, H. 5889 when you call.

Please continue to show our state leaders that we care for the well-being of our state and our families. Join us for another Legislative Day, Tuesday, June 25, 1:30 PM, at the State House, 2nd Floor outside the library!

Click here to confirm your attendance on Tuesday.
For more information on the Temporary Caregiver Insurance bill, please visit www.facebook.com/wecareri and www.WEcareRI.org and follow us on Twitter @wecareri

Failed Sick Leave Bill Still Haunts Councilman

from Mike Dunn, KYW NewsRadio. Read the full piece at http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/05/13/failed-sick-leave-bill-still-haunts-philadelphia-councilman/#.UZDlQusUyiA.email

Last week, the New York City Council approved mandatory paid sick leave.

This brings a sickening feeling to the Philadelphia councilman who tried, but failed to get the measure approved here.

In April, Councilman at large Bill Greenlee came up just one vote short of the 12 votes he needed to override Mayor Michael Nutter’s veto of his earned sick leave bill.

Press Release: Pressure Mounting on City Council to Side with Families, Override Mayoral Veto of Sick Days

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, April 9, 2013
CONTACT: Emma Stieglitz, emmaS@berlinrosen.com, (646) 200-5307
Jonathan Lipman, Lipman@berlinrosen.com, (773) 580-1603

NURSES RALLY FOR EARNED SICK DAYS AS NEW POLL SHOWS OVERWHELMING SUPPORT AMONG PHILLY VOTERS

Pressure Mounting on City Council to Side with Families, Override Mayoral Veto of Sick Days

PHILADELPHIA—As nurses and childcare professionals rallied at City Hall to urge City Council to side with Philadelphia families and override Mayor Nutter’s veto of the Earned Sick Days bill, a new poll was released today showing overwhelming support for the measure among Philadelphia voters.

The earned sick days bill would protect nearly 200,000 Philadelphians who are currently unable to earn paid sick days, preventing them from taking time off when they or their families are ill. The bill passed Philadelphia City Council 11-6, but was vetoed by Mayor Nutter. Supporters are pressing for Council to override that veto on Thursday.

The new survey of 590 Philadelphia voters from Public Policy Polling shows a strong 77 percent of Philadelphia voters supporting a law requiring businesses to allow earned sick time. In addition, 68 percent support an override of the mayor’s veto, and a plurality of voters say that a council member’s failure to override the veto would make them less likely to vote for that council member.

Support for sick days was particularly strong among growing parts of Philadelphia’s electorate:
• 84% of women strongly support a law guaranteeing earned sick days and a whopping 95% support it overall;
• 73% of independent voters support the law.
• 93% of Hispanic voters in Philadelphia strongly support the law, with only 1 percent voicing any opposition.

“This polling tells us what we already knew to be true, that Philadelphians support, want and need earned sick days,” said Marianne Bellesorte, senior director of policy at Pathways PA and a leader of The Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces, which supports the bill. “We urge the City Council to listen to their constituents, not to corporate lobbyists, and side with families by overriding the Mayor’s veto on earned sick days.”

Nurses and caregivers today told council how especially crucial earned sick days are for working parents, who without paid sick days can face the terrible dilemma of choosing between caring for a sick child or earning the money needed to pay for that child’s needs.

“Being able to earn paid sick days is a basic protection for working families,” said Patricia Eakin, PASNAP President and an Emergency Room Nurse at Temple University Hospital. “Parents should be able to take a few hours off work to take their kids to a doctor during the day; otherwise a child’s sickness could worsen and result in a trip to the ER. A job should be what enables you to care for and support your family, not what prevents you from caring for them.”

Research shows that families without access to sick days are also the ones least able to afford unpaid time off. The issue is compounded for working parents who are often forced to send sick children to school because they cannot afford to take care of sick children at home. Studies have shown that parents with earned sick days are 20 percent less likely to send a sick child to school and that when parents care for sick children at home, they get better sooner and reduce the risk spreading the illness to their classmates. A new study from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) shows that sick days would save Philadelphia an estimated $10.3 million a year in healthcare costs by reducing preventable emergency room visits.

Lawmakers and business leaders around the country are supporting earned sick time as a policy that strengthens the economy by keeping people in their jobs. This March, Portland, OR became the fourth city to adopt paid sick days, and New York City is poised to become the 5th US city, and the largest city yet, to pass a paid sick days law. Statewide bills are moving forward in Vermont and Massachusetts. Residents of Orange County, FL, should be able to vote for sick days in August 2014 thanks to 50,000 voters who petitioned for the ballot initiative.

These recent wins and active campaigns build on past victories in Connecticut, which passed the first statewide law in 2011, Seattle in 2011, Washington DC in 2008, San Francisco in 2006, and a November 2012 ballot initiative in Long Beach, California granting sick days to hotel workers. At the federal level, Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Sen. Tom Harkin introduced the Healthy Families Act this month, which would set a national sick days standard.

###

NutterWatch: 5 Days to Pass A Litmus Test for Philadelphians

On March 14, 2013, Philadelphia City Council passed a bill providing the opportunity for most workers in the city of Philadelphia to earn paid sick days. Mayor Michael Nutter has until April 4, 2013, to sign the bill into law or to let it leave his desk unsigned.

Either choice will pave the way for nearly 200,000 workers in Philadelphia to have access to earned sick days for the first time.

Until April 4, or until the Mayor signs the bill, NutterWatch will be here to give you the latest updates and to share the latest stories. To add your name to a petition asking Mayor Nutter to sign the bill, please click here.

An article published on Salon.com is getting a lot of attention as the momentum builds for earned sick days.  Philadelphia's own Randy LoBasso makes the case for earned sick days as a "litmus test" for progressive politicians across the country.  As City Council speaker and New York City mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn finally accepted this week, earned sick days is an issue that is not going away. After three years of refusing to bring the bill up for a vote (despite enough sponsors to have a veto-proof majority), on Thursday Quinn agreed to a compromise bill that will bring earned sick days to NYC beginning in 2014.

Of Mayor Nutter and Philadelphia City Council, LoBasso says the following:

Earlier this month, the city councilman responsible for earned sick time legislation came face-to-face with the mayoral administration that’d been fighting against his bill for over two years. A member of the health commission in the local City Council, Democrat Bill Greenlee became visibly distraught when the Democratic administration of Mayor Michael Nutter sent its director of commerce to testify to the health committee, instead of the health commissioner.

“The truth is, a big part of this issue is about the health of Philadelphians, the health of low-income workers,” Greenlee told commerce director Alan Greenberger, the latter of whom claimed a potential paid sick leave law in Philadelphia would hurt the city’s reeling economy. “And to steal Jack Nicholson’s line,” the councilman continued, “‘you can’t handle the truth,’ OK?”

The bill passed, but Nutter — who made headlines again and again last fall while relentlessly campaigning for President Barack Obama — is expected to veto the legislation, as he did Greenlee’s original incarnation of the bill in 2011. And if he does (he has until April 4 to make up his mind), he’ll be making an increasingly unpopular decision on an issue that’s becoming part of the national Democratic platform — and a bipartisan one across the country.

As LoBasso points out later in the article, 86 percent of nationwide voters support earned sick days. Says Molly Murphy of Anzalone Liszt Grove, earned sick days "transcends party lines."

If you are one of the 86 percent of voters who support earned sick days, now is the time to let Mayor Nutter know. Please click here and sign our petition!


In the News

In addition to the Salon.com article, Huffington Post also has a piece up on the increased momentum brought by earned sick days. Here is what they have to say about Philadelphia:

Marianne Bellesorte, leader of the Philadelphia Healthy Families and Workplaces Coalition, a prominent backer of the paid sick leave bill in Philadelphia's city council, said she thinks the news from New York could help persuade Philadelphia Mayor Nutter to sign the legislation.

Back in 2011, Nutter vetoed an earlier version of the bill. Since then, support for the measure has grown considerably. Bellesorte described New York's announcement as evidence of an important shift in momentum.

"We're very excited about what's been happening in New York," she said. "We hope that Mayor Nutter can really take the lead on earned sick days here Philadelphia."

Where in the World is Mayor Nutter?

Mayor Nutter has nothing on his public calendar today. Perhaps he will stop in to visit the Phillies as they take on the Blue Jays at 1:05. If you see him, be sure to let him know what you think about earned sick days!

You can find Mayor Nutter's daily schedule at http://www.phila.gov/mayor/itinerary.html.

NutterWatch: 6 Days to Keep the Rivalry with New York Going For Philadelphians

On March 14, 2013, Philadelphia City Council passed a bill providing the opportunity for most workers in the city of Philadelphia to earn paid sick days. Mayor Michael Nutter has until April 4, 2013, to sign the bill into law or to let it leave his desk unsigned.

Either choice will pave the way for nearly 200,000 workers in Philadelphia to have access to earned sick days for the first time.

Until April 4, or until the Mayor signs the bill, NutterWatch will be here to give you the latest updates and to share the latest stories. To add your name to a petition asking Mayor Nutter to sign the bill, please click here.

Great picture from http://www.aroundphilly.com/blog/2011/08/03/philly-vs-new-york/

Let me start by saying that all of us in Philadelphia are incredibly proud of the folks in New York City who have finally made earned sick days a reality for their workers. It took a lot of hard work and a lot of compromise, but in 2014, workers in NYC will be able to earn the time they need to care for the families they love.

That being said, there are few rivalries as cherished in Philadelphia as the ones we have with New York. When the Phillies play the Mets, we pack our stadium (and when it is in NYC, we pack theirs). We love to hate the Yankees, the Giants, the Rangers. When we re-signed Cliff Lee, it was incredible - and the signing was made more incredible by the story that he turned down more money from the Yankees to come here.

So are Philadelphians going to let New York City pass an earned sick days bill without Mayor Nutter signing our bill into law? That doesn't sound like the Philadelphia I know and love. If you agree, please take a minute to sign our petition asking Mayor Nutter to make earned sick days a law in Philadelphia.

All kidding aside, congratulations to New York. And Portland, Seattle, Connecticut, Washington D.C., and San Francisco. We can't wait to officially join the list.


In the News

The news today is all about passing earned sick days in New York City. Once again, congratulations to the great advocates, legislators, and workers!


Where in the World is Mayor Nutter?

Mayor Nutter has nothing on his public calendar today. No word on if he plans to celebrate sponsor Bill Greenlee's birthday with him or if he will mark the occasion by signing earned sick days into law!

You can find Mayor Nutter's daily schedule at http://www.phila.gov/mayor/itinerary.html.

Paid Sick Days Becoming Virginia Senate Campaign Issue!

Women's Town Hall in Virginia for Senate Candidate Time Kaine (D) brings Paid Sick Leave to the forefront.

More workers are taking unpaid leave to care for children and family because paid sick leave is not available. This puts job security in danger and forces women and men alike into a precarious position.

Read the full story here:
Here

Tell your councilman the Paid Sick Days should be addressed Today!
Philadelphia City Council

"Movement for Paid Sick Leave Spreads"

In Philadelphia, a citywide sick leave law was vetoed by a corporate-friendly Democratic mayor, but a compromise bill that mandated paid leave just for city contractors passed last year. Its effects will be small, so organizers are trying again this year for a broader bill, noting that the 2011 municipal elections produced the largest freshman class on the city council in nearly three decades.

Gwen Snyder, an organizer with Philadelphia Jobs with Justice, sees paid sick leave as a workplace justice issue: “For unions, the work is important because these are reforms that raise the ground for all workers.”

Read the full article at http://www.indypendent.org/2012/03/04/movement-paid-sick-leave-spreads.

New York City Paid Sick Days Coalition Relaunches Campaign

Like many Philadelphians, a million and a half working New Yorkers have no paid sick time to care for themselves or sick children. Earlier today,  the New York City Paid Sick Days Coalition held a rally at City Hall to relaunch the paid sick time campaign. The coalition is larger, stronger, and more determined than ever to pass the NYC Paid Sick Time Act in 2012!


To learn more about the event follow @ABetterBalance on Twitter as they live tweeted from the event.

We would like to congratulate the New York Paid Sick Days Coalition on a great event and wish them good luck! Like the New York Coalition, we will be working to again pass a paid sick days bill in Philadelphia. Check back for details on ways you can help.

Paid Sick Days: Recapping 2011 and Looking Forward to 2012

2011 was a banner year for paid sick days throughout the country.

• The state of Connecticut became the first US state to pass a paid sick days measure ensuring that workers who are ill can earn sick days to care for themselves and their family members. This bill took effect January 1, 2012.
• The city of Seattle, Washington, also passed a bill providing workers in the city with the opportunity to earn sick days. This bill goes into effect on September 1, 2012.
• Here in Philadelphia, two bills passed City Council regarding paid sick days. The first, vetoed by Mayor Nutter, would have provided workers with the opportunity to earn sick days in the city of Philadelphia.  The second bill, which will go into effect on July 1, 2012, ensures workers covered by the city's living wage ordinance have access to paid sick days.

In 2012, according to Family Values @ Work, a national network of state and local coalitions helping spur the growing movement for family-friendly workplace policies, 16 cities and states will be active in paid family leave or paid sick days campaigns.  Philadelphia plans to lead the way by reintroducing a bill on paid sick days in City Council in early 2012.

Please help us kick off another great year by joining us for a Happy Hour at El Fuego on January 10, 2012. El Fuego is a business that provides their workers with the opportunity to earn paid sick days.  They have been designated by the Restaurant Opportunities Center as a high road employer.  Help us support a business that supports their workers! 

You can RSVP below:

Paid Sick Days Happy Hour
Tuesday, January 10
5PM - 7PM
El Fuego
723 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA

Denver Paid Sick Days Would Promote Children’s School Success

From our friends at IWPR:

Paid sick days for working parents can enhance children’s school success. Parents face a difficult choice if their children get sick when they lack paid sick days: staying home with the child and missing pay (and possibly facing discipline at work); sending the child to school sick, which compromises their school performance and spreads illness to others; leaving the child at home alone, putting the child at risk; leaving the child with an older sibling who in turn must stay home from school; or trusting the child to a temporary caregiver. Each of these scenarios has potential costs for schools or for child well-being. The negative effects of inadequate sick days coverage disproportionately affect people of color and low-income adults in Denver, because they are less likely than other Denver residents to be able to earn paid sick days. This paper by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) addresses how children's school success can be improved when working parents have access to paid sick days by reviewing published research, Denver Public Schools data, and information provided in interviews and surveys of Denver Public Schools personnel.

The Mayor's Statement on Sick Days

On Tuesday, Mayor Nutter released a statement giving his reasons for vetoing Bill 080474, Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces, which would have allowed all Philadelphians to earn sick days in their jobs.  However, the Mayor's statement does not take all of the recent research and information into account.

• The Mayor states that "the imposition of this requirement on Philadelphia alone -and not on a statewide or national basis - would simply create too great a burden on our local businesses, would render us uncompetitive in the global marketplace and would cost Philadelphians jobs."
• Since 2007, when San Francisco’s law took effect, job growth has been consistently higher in the city than in neighboring counties that lack a paid sick days law. Total employment in San Francisco increased 3.5 percent between 2006 and 2010, while employment in its five neighboring counties fell by 3.4 percent overall.
• The Philadelphia smoking ban, which was supported by then-Councilman Nutter, is one of many bills that faced the same criticisms of needing to be done at a state or federal level to avoid burdening businesses.  Yet when the smoking ban passed, it paved the way for a similar bill at the state level, similar to what passage of paid sick days at the local level can do for the state.
• Since most other countries offer paid sick days (at least 145), offering the opportunity to earn paid sick days in Philadelphia could not make us uncompetitive in the global marketplace.
• The Mayor also states that "Mandating employers to provide sick leave benefits to employees raises the cost of labor for businesses that do not already provide such benefits.  Moreover, the bill imposes considerable administrative burdens on businesses, particularly small businesses that do not have sophisticated time-keeping systems in place."
• Data from San Francisco shows that 6 out of 7 businesses reported no negative effects on profitability as a result of passing a more comprehensive sick days bill than that passed in Philadelphia. 
• Even without sophisticated time systems, all businesses must be able to report wages and hours in addition to calculating federal, state, and local taxes, not to mention payroll taxes.  Under the bill, workers would earn 1 hour of sick time for every 40 hours worked, which comes out to 0.025 hours of sick time earned per hour work.  This would not be a difficult formula to add to an employer's financial management system, spreadsheet, and/or list of calculations.
• In his statement, the Mayor cites an analysis from Dr. William Dunkelberg, which concludes that paid sick days "would cost businesses in Philadelphia hundreds of millions of dollars annually."
• Lonnie Golden and Stephen Herzenberg released a report in May 2012 showing many errors in the Dunkelberg study, including a doublecounting error, implausible assumptions, and questionable methodology.
• The Mayor also states that the bill "fails to exempt businesses that already provide the mandated number of paid sick days from complying with other aspects of the bill."
• The bill clearly states that businesses who provide an equal or greater amount of sick time, vacation time, personal time, PTO, etc., do not have to change their policies so long as people can take the time when needed (i.e. without advance notice).
• However, the bill does state that employers cannot retaliate against workers for taking sick days (although they reserve the right to take action if an employee is misusing their time).  The exemption the Mayor is looking for, also known as the "Wal-Mart exemption," would allow businesses to offer sick days but to penalize employees for using it.  An estimated 128,000 workers in Philadelphia already face such retaliation even though they have sick days - one of the aims of this bill is to protect workers from such retaliation.

Work in Philadelphia and Connecticut is Increasing the Likelihood of Sick Days in New York City

Sick-pay votes boost bill in NYC

Advocates for a law requiring city businesses to offer their employees paid sick days step up their efforts as similar measures advance in Connecticut and Philadelphia. - By Daniel Massey

Connecticut legislators are about to pass a bill to make their state the first in the nation to require employers to provide workers with paid sick time. And City Council members in Philadelphia are expected to vote Thursday on a bill mandating up to seven paid sick days per year for workers.

With that momentum, advocates in New York City are stepping up efforts to revive a sick-pay bill shelved last year by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn over concerns that it would harm small businesses.

To read the full story, visit http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20110603/FREE/110609937.

And let's beat New York by passing sick days first!!

MomsRising Paid Sick Days Blog Carnival

Thank you to MomsRising who put together a Blog Carnival focusing on the need for paid sick days in Philadelphia. Some of the authors include Coalition partners, national experts, and moms. See a list of the blog posts below.

An Apple A Day Isn’t Enough: Blog-A-Thon For Philadelphia’s Earned Sick Days Law, by Ruth Martin, MomsRising. “Planning, preparation, prevention – it all comes with the territory of being a mom. We try to head off as many accidents and illnesses as we can; we child-proof, we carry hand sanitizer, and we teach our kids to wash their hands. But there is a big hole in our safety net: Two out of five – that’s 41% – of Philadelphia employees are not allowed by their employers to earn even a single paid sick day to care for their own health and thousands more are unable to take a paid day to care for a sick child or parent.”

In the City of Brotherly and Sisterly Love, A Chance to Stand Up For Working Families, by Vicki Shabo, National Partnership for Women and Families. “With more than 210,000 working people in Philadelphia lacking access to paid sick days, approving a law to establish a standard should be common sense for the City Council.”

Bad Economics Meet Paid Sick Days in Philadelphia, by Robert Drago, Institute for Women’s Policy Research. “A new study for the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) estimates that Philadelphia’s proposed paid sick days legislation would cost employers between $350 million and $752 million annually. Both the factual basis and the assumptions underlying this study are seriously flawed.”

Support Paid Sick Days In Philadelphia! by Angie Norris, Studio 34 Yoga. A Philadelphia nurse who’s also a small business owner shares her perspective on providing paid sick days. Thank you to Angie for providing earned sick time!

In Philadelphia, A Healthy Workforce and a Healthy Business Environment Go Together, by Amy Traub, Demos. “In an era of high unemployment, good policymaking also requires that we answer another question: how would guaranteeing all working people in Philadelphia the right to earn paid sick leave impact the city’s economy?”

Philadelphians deserve right to time off when sick, by Kathy Black, president of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, Philadelphia chapter. “Paid sick days is a policy that’s good for workers, good for families and good for our community. And businesses in other cities that have a paid sick day law say the law has no negative impact on profitability – by a measure of 6 to 1!”

Apocalypse Never: Earned Sick Days Provide Benefit, Not Doom, by Jake Blumgart. “Rather than just making fretful predictions, we should look at empirical evidence gathered from successfully implemented paid sick leave bills.”

This boss doesn’t mind paid sick days, by Dewetta Logan. The owner of a small childcare center in West Philly shares her experience in providing earned sick time. And– BIG thank you to Dewetta for protecting your employees and the kids you all care for by providing earned sick time!

Economists say paid sick days will help Philadelphia make progress toward economic recovery, by Marianne Bellesorte

Letter to the Editor: Workers Need the Opportunity to Earn Sick Days, by Diane Mohney. Certified school nurse offers her 29 years of wisdom and experience in explaining the need for sick days. Scroll all the way to the end to check it out.

Faith leaders sign letter in support of earned sick days in Philadelphia, by Kate Scully. Faith leaders sign a letter to Mayor Nutter in support of providing all workers in Philadelphia with the opportunity to earn paid sick days.

Philadelphia Business Journal: Sick Days for Healthy Recovery, by Eileen Appelbaum and Lonnie Golden. “Mandating paid sick days is one policy that will help employers keep workers in jobs.” Subscribers can read the entire article.

Every Parent wants to protect their children, by Barbara Lovelace of north Philadelphia. Barbara shares the agonizing decision her daughter had to make: Stay by Barbara’s side as she lay in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, or return to her job as a cashier worrying about whether her mother would pass away while she was on the job.

Status Update: I support paid sick days!, by Marianne Bellesorte. If you can’t make it to City Hall, join our virtual Facebook rally to support earned sick time in Philly!

Support Paid Sick Days For Philadelphia Families, by Jennifer at PhillyFun4Kids.We take a moment out of bringing you Philly’s best family friendly free or mostly free fun to think about this…In Philadelphia over 40% of workers do not have the ability to earn any paid sick days.

Mothers Gather at Childspace to Support Earned Sick Days, by Zach Subar. Power of one(sies) decorated with messages like “Moms rock!” also tell the story of why paid sick days are a family friendly policy.

Using NFIB Economist’s Estimates on Paid Sick Days: It’s Not Cricket, by Steve Herzenberg.  Herzenberg shows that even if readers oppose paid sick days, they shouldn’t use the Dunkelberg estimates because, well, “It’s not cricket.” The estimates are so transparently inflated that folks who live in a fact-based world shouldn’t use them.

Philadelphia Paid Sick Days Law Would Allow Workers to Take Care of Their Chronic Conditions, by Andrea Lindemann.  In Philadelphia, there’s a disconnect between public health initiatives and access to care. The reason? Lack of paid time off to get to the doctor to care for chronic conditions. 

It’s time now for workers to be able to earn paid sick days in Philly and across the country, by Linda Meric.   Millions of Americans working without paid sick days face the impossible choice between caring for their health and that of their family, and keeping their paycheck or job. At a time when many families are worried about their financial security, the threat of losing a job or needed wages forces many workers to go to work even though they are ill.

Rooting for Passage of Paid Sick Days in Philadelphia, by Ellen Bravo.  Every night a second grade teacher washes the top cover of her reading couch because some child has had to come to class with the flu rather than staying home alone.

Family Leave in NJ is Running a Surplus

In 2008, a paid family leave bill passed in New Jersey, despite warnings that businesses would leave the state and employees would abuse the system.  So far, the warnings have been unfounded, and the family leave law has done so well that it is now recording a surplus.

According to an editorial in The Star-Ledger, the maximum amount that will be deducted from employee paychecks to pay for the program will be $17 for the year, which is half of the maximum amount deducted in the previous year.

Approximately 37,000 New Jersey workers have used the program since its inception in July 2009, receiving $83 million to offset lost wages while they bonded with new children or cared for seriously ill family members. Despite this use, the fund has grown to $50 million, providing the opportunity for a tax cut this year that will put $57 million back in the New Jersey economy. (Of course, since most families probably use paid family leave to pay for food, housing, and other necessities while they take time off work, the $83 million spent so far on the program is money that otherwise may not have been available in the economy.)

While paid family leave is still in early stages in New Jersey, workers are benefiting from the program at a lower cost than originally expected, while few if any businesses have left the state or complained about the program's actual impact.  As The Star-Ledger notes, economic security programs for families "needn't bust the budget.  Or strangle common sense."  Just one more reason why other common sense programs, such as earned sick time, are right for employers and families.

If you want to take action on earned sick time, please take a minute to sign our petition, write a letter to the editor, and/or sign up for our letter-writing party on December 7!

Business and Earned Sick Time

Whenever we speak about the need for earned sick time, one question is asked over and over again: How do businesses feel about the bill?  From research, we know that businesses save money with earned sick time due to higher productivity, lower turnover, and more loyalty - all of which has come true in San Francisco, where providing earned sick time has not been detrimental to the local economy.

Now, we are pleased to have another resource showing the positive impact of earned sick time on businesses.  CLASP, a nonprofit organization located in Washington, DC, just debuted a new site focusing on the business benefits of earned sick time.  This site lists businesses that support earned sick time (you can add your business too!), provides videos from employers who value earned sick time, and lists articles and resources around paid sick days. Please take a moment to visit and to add your support!

Profitability and Workplace Flexibility Can Go Hand in Hand, Even for Small Businesses

Earned sick time is often considered a "worker-friendly" policy.  Unfortunately, in some circles, "worker-friendly" is synonymous with "anti-business."  However, as many businesses across the country have pointed out, sick employees do not make for high productivity or good business practices. 

In a recent article on TheHill.com's Congress Blog, two small business owners point out that "we want workers to stay home when they’re sick and not infect others – and they can’t if the time isn’t paid, or if taking off routinely results in discipline."  They point to the need for national minimum standards "akin to the minimum wage – we exceed the basement to get a competitive advantage in attracting great employees, and our competitors can’t undercut that with bad employment practices."

Earned sick time is one of many minimum standards that can benefit workers, businesses, and the economy.   Since an earned sick time bill became law in San Francisco in 2007, both the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and the Golden Gate Restaurant Association have said that earned sick time had not caused undue hardships for members.  The Executive Director of the Restaurant Association has gone so far as to say "paid sick days 'is the best public policy for the least cost.'"

As we continue to examine the need for earned sick time, we need to hear from more businesses such as the two who wrote TheHill.com's blog post.  Just recently, we heard from the Health Federation of Philadelphia, who believes earned sick time "keeps us competitive as an employer, contributes to employee loyalty and, thereby cuts down on turn-over."

If your business provides earned sick time, please let us know, and help to show that worker-friendly policies are also business-friendly, even in today's economy.

image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/scelera/2243429936/in/photostream/ // http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/

From DMI's Amy Traub: "A Race Between Philly and NYC on Paid Sick Leave?"

On Tuesday, October 12, PathWays PA and the Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces held a press conference to draw attention to a new report from the Drum Major Institute showing the effect earned sick days will likely have on Pennsylvania.  Below is a quote from an article in The Huffington Post:

Yet Philly may be moving faster to address a problem that's pressing in both cities. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a hearing on paid sick time is expected in Philadelphia this fall. Meanwhile, in New York, the City Council has held multiple hearings, but it's unclear when the bill will come to the floor for a vote.

Councilman William Greenlee, co-sponsor of the Philadelphia bill, offered a sports analogy, insisting that Philadelphia would prove its policy leadership on paid sick time just as the Phillies would surely trounce the Yankees.

To read the full article, visit The Huffington Post.

Please also take a moment to read some of the other news from the DMI report, including articles in the Inquirer and The Philadelphia Business Journal.  You can also listen to a radio feed about the report on the PathWays PA website.

Listen to Last Week's Radio SmartTalk to Learn More About Earned Sick Time

On September 13 last week, Representative Marc Gergely and Gene Barr from the PA Chamber of Business and Industry spoke for an hour about earned sick time in Pennsylvania.  As you may remember, this discussion was postponed last month because Rep. Gergely needed to take a sick day in order to meet with a surgeon about his son's recently broken foot.

You can listen to Representative Gergely and Mr. Barr and leave your own comments at the Radio SmartTalk page.  You can also download the podcast through iTunes for free.

image courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fisher_500_radio.jpg

Op-Ed in Patriot News on the Need for Earned Sick Time

"Paid sick days legislation makes sense for all businesses"

by Carol Goertzel, President/CEO of PathWays PA

When Tiffany Lomax hears her son’s breath get shorter, she knows what is coming next.

Her chest constricts in sympathy with him as he begins to cough and wheeze, and together they fight for control over his asthma. But Tiffany can now care for her son with a little more peace of mind. She knows that, if needed, she can get him to the doctor or hospital without risking her job — all because she earns paid sick days. 

To read the whole story, please visit the Patriot-News website, and be sure to add your comments to the discussion!

Written Testimony from August 17, 2010 Hearing on Earned Sick Time

For those of you interested in reading the testimony from the hearing, you can find it all right here!

Carol Goertzel, President/CEO, PathWays PA
E---------------, Affected Worker
Department of Health
Robert Drago, Ph. D., Research Director, Institute for Women's Policy Research
Rebecca Foley, Director of Education & Advocacy Initiatives, WOMEN'S WAY
Kate Etherington, Senior Program Director, Physicians for Social Responsibility
Sam Denisco, Director of Government Affairs, PA Chamber of Business and Industry
Carol Tracy, Executive Director, Women's Law Project

Testimony submitted for the record:
Richard Bloomingdale, President, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO
Donna Levitt, Manager, Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (San Francisco)
Dr. James Plumb, Professor, Thomas Jefferson University
K.C. Moylan, Chief Operation Officer, Pei Wei Asian Diner, Inc.
Susan Kavchok, Childspace Management Group, Inc.