Paid Sick Leave For Private Sector Workers Is On City Council's Agenda Before Summer Recess
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Legislation that would require Philadelphia companies, large and small, to provide paid sick days is back on the radar screen, and could be voted on, before City Council goes on its summer break. But it's likely to be amended.
Both the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the Nutter Administration oppose the bill, feeling it would choke job creation. So, sponsors on City Council, including at large member Bill Greenlee, intend to tweak it some more, including how many paid sick days per year were reasonable.
"For businesses with 11 or more employees, they'd get seven days. And they'd have to earn it over time. For businesses of 10 or under, they'd get four."
Greenlee says there are an estimated 200,000 Philadelphia workers who don't have any paid leave. Supporters say 40-percent of private sector workers don't have sick days, forcing them to work ill, send their children to school sick, or lose pay and potentially, their jobs, for taking a day off.
It's not clear if Mayor Nutter would veto the bill if it was approved by Council.
Reported by Steve Tawa, KYW Newsradio
