Bills
| 3.23.22

Paid Sick Leave: Should Federal, State, and Private Sector Employers Have To Offer It? (S. 636)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is S. 636?

(Updated September 24, 2020)

This bill would require that all full-time employees of federal, state, and private-sector employers receive at least seven days of paid sick leave. "Sick leave" would apply for employees who fall ill, need to attend doctors appointments, or miss work to care for a sick family member (children, parents, spouses/domestic partners).
Businesses with 15 or more employees would be required to give workers the opportunity to earn up to seven days of paid sick leave a year. People employed at businesses with less than 15 employees would under federal law be offered up to seven job-protected sick days.

The bill would also include a “safe days” provision — allowing workers to take paid sick leave to handle issues of domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault. Funding through this bill would be allocated for outreach and education about the rights guaranteed in the bill.

For every 30 hours of work, employees could earn 1 hour of earned paid sick time. However, employers can put a cap on the number of hours an employee can earn on 56 hours. an employer chooses to up that ceiling.

Under this legislation,  part-time workers would also get paid sick leave — but it would be less, proportional to how many hours they work. 

the Commissioner of Labor Statistics to create a report every year on the use of paid sick leave. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) would also be directed to run a study on the use of paid sick leave within 18 months of this bill's passing. 

Argument in favor

No one can predict when they're going to get sick, and workers shouldn’t have to choose between their job and their own health or their families’ health in times of sickness.

Argument opposed

Paid sick leave and similar mandates place an unfair burden on businesses, forcing them to sacrifice productivity and sales, which could lead to job losses and business closures.

Impact

Workers; families; parents with new children; caretakers; employers; and businesses.

Cost of S. 636

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable. However, an estimate of a previous version of the bill found that implementing this act would cost the federal government about $3 to $4 million per year.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced this bill to allow all workers to earn paid sick leave to use when they're sick, or to care for a loved one among other circumstances:

"It is unacceptable that 41 million people across the country have to take time off -- or risk losting their job -- if they catch the flu, if their child is sick, or if they have to take care of a sick parent. No one should have to choose between their health and their economic security, but our outdated policies are forcing too many workers to make that kind of choice. I'm very proud Washington state continues to be a leader on this issue -- and it's time our national policy catches up to ensure all hardworking families are able to care for themselves and loved ones when they need it the most."
Those who oppose government-mandated paid sick leave cite the economic burden it imposes on small businesses that may not be able to afford it. They note that employers know better than anyone else how to balance their budgets while offering benefits to their workers, and that paid sick leave should be left to individual businesses. As noted in a Wikipedia article on paid sick leave: 
"A 2013 study by the Employment Policies Institute found that many businesses responded to a paid sick leave mandate in Connecticut by reducing paid leave, scaling back employee benefits, cutting back on hours, reducing wages, or raising prices. About 24% of employers that responded to the survey said they'd hire fewer employees as a consequence of the law and 10% admitted that the law had caused them to limit or restrict their expansion within the state."

This legislation has the support of 34 cosponsors in the Senate, all of whom are either Democrats or Independents who caucus as Democrats.

Media:

Summary by Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: Flickr user AZAdam)