The Midwest Joins the Movement: A Midyear Look at Paid Sick Time Progress across the Nation

JUL 01, 2016

By Zoe Ziliak Michel

The movement to guarantee paid sick time has swept into the Heartland. On May 27, Minneapolis became the first* jurisdiction in the Midwest to pass a paid sick time ordinance. Just last week, Chicago followed suit. The two cities join nearly three dozen other jurisdictions that have passed such laws.

Minneapolis and Chicago aren’t the only winners this year. Thanks to the tireless efforts of advocates and workers, eight jurisdictions have passed paid sick time laws or referenda in 2016. In March, Vermont became the fifth state (joining Connecticut, California, Massachusetts, and Oregon) to guarantee its workers paid sick time. Maryland came very close; its bill passed the house of delegates but failed in the senate on the last day of the session. Four other cities—Spokane; Plainfield, NJ; Santa Monica; and Los Angeles—also passed paid sick time ordinances this year. And just last month, voters in San Diego approved a referendum that will allow workers to earn 40 hours of paid sick time per year. The laws passed this year alone will grant paid sick time to over 1.7 million additional workers.

These laws help meet important needs. Without paid sick time, workers who fall ill have to choose between staying home to recover and earning a paycheck. They can even be fired for missing a single day of work. Paid sick time laws allow people to stay home to care for themselves or a sick loved one while still being able to pay their rent. The laws further promote public health by ensuring that workers who interact with the public—those employed in food service, health care, or child care facilities, among others—don’t spread their illnesses to clients or patients. The laws also help businesses by reducing employee turnover and improving morale.

More paid sick time laws are expected to pass in the coming months. Legislators in St. Paul and Duluth, MN are currently considering bills, and other locations may pass paid sick time through referenda. Berkeley, CA will have a paid sick time measure on its ballot this November, while advocates in Washington state; Arizona; and Albuquerque, NM are collecting signatures for referenda.

2016 is quickly becoming a memorable year in the movement to guarantee paid sick time. However, state and local paid sick time laws are not enough. There are currently 43 million U.S. workers who cannot earn a single paid sick day. While workers in Vermont and Spokane will soon have this protection, those in Georgia and Urbana need it, too. A federal paid sick time bill, the Healthy Families Act (HFA), is needed to cover everyone. This bill would ensure no one in our country has to choose between staying employed and staying well.

* = Milwaukee actually passed a paid sick time ballot initiative in 2008, but it was overturned with the passage of a 2011 Wisconsin preemption law forbidding municipalities to enact local paid sick time ordinances.