Council says most city businesses must provide 5 sick days a year

SHARE Council says most city businesses must provide 5 sick days a year
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Workers and their supporters on the council have been fighting for paid sick leave for awhile; this new conference was held at City Hall in 2015. | File photo

Chicago employers large and small — with the exception of construction companies — will be required to provide their employees with at least five paid sick days each year, under a landmark ordinance approved Wednesday over the strenuous objections of business groups.

The vote was 48-0.

Ameya Pawar (47th), one of the champions of the effort, called five days a year a “baseline of decency” and said worries about workers claiming to be sick when they aren’t are overstated.

“If we designed public policy around the small group of people who cheat, we’ll always fail,” he said.

Since 2006, five states including California and 24 including New York, Seattle and Minneapolis have enacted laws on paid sick time. Chicago is now the 25th.

For roughly 460,000 of the city’s 1.1 million private sector workers, that means no longer having to drag your flu-ridden body to work, or forfeit a day’s pay to stay home with a sick child or elderly parent.

Business leaders have likened it to death by a thousand cuts. They argue that it’s not any one government mandate that’s so damaging, but the cumulative effect.

“In the past 14 months, they’ve passed a higher minimum wage, the largest property tax increase in Chicago history – paid disproportionately by the business community – and a plastic bag ban, to say nothing of a recent Cook County sales tax and hotel tax increase and all of the uncertainty in Springfield,” said Mike Reever, vice-president of government relations at the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce has said.

“These policies do have a cumulative impact. … You’re layering one policy on top of another and all of those costs are being paid for by the employer community. Once again, it’s putting Chicago on an island. That’s a competitive disadvantage for employers.”

Tanya Triche, vice-president and general counsel of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, has argued that the business community has endured two years of piling on that also includes a ton of regulations and taxes on tobacco products, as well as Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to raise the smoking age to 21.

“It’s really been relentless. We have had a difficult time trying to react and prepare for the financial impact of all of these regulations,” Triche said. “This is less about whether people deserve paid sick leave and more about how much more existing businesses can take.”

Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1st) has called said the sick leave ordinance he championed “good for business.”

“We want healthy workers. … It’s good for the folks who don’t have to decide whether to take a day off to take a sick day,” he said.

“I don’t want to go to a deli with my kids and worry that the guy in back is sick while making our sandwiches.”

At a committee meeting last week, Nataki Rhodes of the Restaurant Opportunity Center, talked about the impact on everyday workers, including those like herself.

“Having earned sick time means not having to lose your job because you need to take care of your family,” she said. “We’re the first ones to kick under the bus. We’re the first ones to have to come begging. But, we’re not begging. We’re telling you. We want our sick time for all working families, no matter where you work.”

Matthew Brandon, secretary-treasurer of SEIU Local 73, acknowledged there are costs associated with paid sick leave, but scoffed at claims that the sick day mandate could trigger a business exit.

“Businesses aren’t going anywhere. Chicago is a world-class city. You want to be here. We want you here. We want to work for you. But we want to be treated fairly.”

Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), owners of Ann Sather’s restaurants, has been unsure about business staying put and warned of the cumulative impact on small businesses like his.

“We were all part of the task force. We all believe that some kind of policy [is necessary]. People do get sick. But, you know what? Companies get sick, too. And I’m telling you, we’ve got an ailing small business climate here in the city of Chicago,” Tunney has said.

The ordinance allows private sector employees to accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked. A maximum of 40 hours, about five days, can accrue in a 12-month period. Up to 20 hours, or 2 ½ days, could carry over to the next year.

Workers would be eligible to use paid sick days after being with a company for six months. Employees who don’t stick with jobs for long – such as students working a summer job – would not receive the benefit.

Workforce Development Committee Chairman Pat O’Connor (40th), Emanuel’s City Council floor leader, has been hard-pressed to explain the construction industry carve-out.

“Because of their uniqueness, because of their seasonal type work, most of them have either sick time already taken care of in their contracts or in fact have contracts that exceed what a sick time benefit would be worth to them. I guess they’re saying, ‘We’re doing fine. Leave us alone,'” O’Connor said.

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