Paid Sick Leave Bills Debated in Senate Subcommittee

Last week, the Children and Families Subcommittee of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee heard testimony on several bills that would mandate paid sick leave for U.S. workers. Paid sick leave advocates pushed for the passage of the Healthy Families Act (HR 2460 and S 1152) and the Emergency Influenza Containment Act (HR 3991). Opponents argued that mandated employer-paid sick leave would undermine economic recovery efforts.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced the Healthy Families Act in the U.S. House of Representatives in May. This bill provides that workers would earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to seven days of paid sick leave a year. Employees would begin accruing sick leave on their first day of employment and become eligible to use any accrued leave after 60 days of employment.

During the Senate subcommittee hearing, DeLauro said that "presenteeism," which is when an employee goes to work while sick, actually costs the national economy more than it would cost to provide paid sick leave.

Earlier this month, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) introduced the Emergency Influenza Containment Act, which would provide employees with up to five days of paid sick leave per year and would cover full-time and part-time employees in businesses that have 15 or more employees. An employee could use the leave if an employer "directs" or "advises" the employee to go home as a result of a contagious illness such as the H1N1 virus.

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT), chairman of the subcommittee, had introduced the Senate's companion bill to the Healthy Families Act with the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. During the hearing, Dodd stated that he planned to introduce a bill similar to the Emergency Influenza Containment Act in the Senate, but his bill would provide up to seven paid days for workers with flulike symptoms.

Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), a member of the Senate HELP Committee, stressed that many employers are not even able to maintain payroll in this economic climate. He said, "If this is enacted, employers will be forced to adjust somewhere, either by reducing current health care or retirement benefits, or by downsizing their number of employees and adding to the ranks of unemployed."

S 1152 HR 3991