This is why the U.S. needs more paid sick leave laws.
Paid sick leave is one of the many things that almost all other developed nations guarantee and the United States does not. But it's also on the list of things that's picking up momentum in states and cities even as Republican control of Congress means a federal earned sick leave law is a fantasy.
Going into 2014, Connecticut was the only state with such a law. It was joined by San Francisco, Seattle, the District of Columbia, and Jersey City. New York City and Portland, Oregon, had passed ordinances which had not yet gone into effect. In 2014, those already-passed laws not only went into effect, but New York City expanded its law. But that was far from all:
- Newark became the second New Jersey city to pass an earned sick leave law.
- Eugene, Oregon:
By law, employers are required to provide their workers with one hour of paid absence due to illness for every 30 hours worked, with a maximum of 40 hours per year. [...] The ordinance will go into effect July 1, 2015.
- The cities of Passaic, East Orange, Irvington, and Paterson, New Jersey, and the entire state of California acted within days of each other in September. California's law alone affects 6.5 million workers.
- On Election Day, voters in Trenton and Montclair, New Jersey, and the commonwealth of Massachusetts passed sick leave laws, while voters in Oakland, California, expanded on their state's newly passed law. These laws passed by voters extend paid sick leave to another million workers.
The sick leave laws passed in previous years have now been around long enough that we're getting to see how they've played out. The answer is well. Sick leave is popular with Seattle businesses, and employment is thriving there. Connecticut businesses, too, are doing fine, with just 11 percent saying their costs had increased by three percent or more as a result of the law.
The momentum could continue in 2015, too: The Oregon state legislature is considering a sick leave law. If it passes, Oregon would be the fourth American state with earned sick leave. The U.S. would still be behind the curve, but at least we're in motion.
