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Budget, Education & City Services
Mandatory Sick Leave legislation
WHEREAS, The City Council has proposed legislation (Intro #1059 - The Paid Sick Time Act) that would require businesses in New York City to offer paid sick leave for their employees; and
WHEREAS, According to this plan workers would accrue paid sick leave at a rate of one hour for each 30 hours worked, up to a total of 9 days per year for workers in large businesses (those with more than 10 employees), while small businesses (those with fewer than 10 employees) would provide up to 5 sick leave days per year. Accrual of days would commence with the start of employment, but cannot be used until the employee has worked for 90 days; and
WHEREAS, This legislation would help ease the difficult situation of at least one million working New Yorkers who do not receive any paid sick days and therefore often have to go to work when they are sick, or have to send their sick children to school; and
WHEREAS, It is in the best interest of the public health of all New Yorkers for it to be less punitive for sick workers and workers with sick children to stay home and thereby safeguard the health of their fellow workers, fellow students and the public, especially the retail and food service workers who are among the least likely to receive sick days; and
WHEREAS, Intro #1059 has not yet come up for a vote and its sponsors are still actively seeking input, Community Board Five has the following suggestions, which would balance the need for paid sick days with the needs of small businesses:
- Define a number of employees below which businesses are exempt entirely
- Increase the upper limit of the number of workers that define a small business from the current figure of 9.
- Consider reducing the number of allowable sick days for large businesses per year from the current figure of nine; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That Community Board 5 recognizes the need for workers to care for their health and that of their dependents without loss of income or employment, and therefore supports the concept of paid sick leave as promoted by Intro #1059 with the above caveats and pending the final details of the legislation.
The above resolution passed with a vote of 22 in favor, 9 opposed, 1 abstention.