Add another tiny speck of blue to the United States.
Another American city has joined
most of the rest of the world in an important workplace and public health protection.
Portland, Oregon, has passed a paid sick leave measure.
Companies, nonprofits and governmental employers with five or fewer employees won’t have to provide paid time off, but could no longer fire workers who phone in ill. Those with six or more employees must offer at least five days’ paid sick leave to full-time workers, though other paid time off benefits may suffice.
An estimated 40 percent of private sector employees in the Portland area lack sick leave, and the rate is much higher among lower-paid workers.
Many business owners and business lobby groups predictably opposed the measure, arguing that their profit margins are more important than their employees' or the public's health. The city council resoundingly rejected such arguments, passing the measure unanimously. A
coalition of community groups, unions, small business owners, and activists had campaigned in favor of the policy.
Portland will join San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Seattle, and the state of Connecticut as the only places in the United States to have paid sick leave. The policy will go into effect January 1, 2014.