The City of St. Paul announced that they will begin examining the possibility of requiring all employees in St. Paul – public and private – to be accorded paid sick leave benefits.
The proposal for paid sick leave is being characterized as a public health initiative, as explained in this reported comment by Council Member Chris Tolbert:
“The workers who do not have access to earned sick and safe leave work in professions where they interact with more people on a daily basis than a politician can hope to reach in a month…[t]his is a huge public health concern when the people who are making your burrito or bagging your groceries are sick at work.”
To lead by example, Mayor Coleman announced that by 2017, all City employees who do not already enjoy the use of paid sick leave will have these benefits extended to them.
Different From Minneapolis
St. Paul officials claim to have learned from a similar proposal in Minneapolis that has since stalled in large part because of local business opposition. St. Paul’s venture into this turf will feature a task force consisting of the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce, local businesses and other stakeholders selected by Mayor Chris Coleman and the City Council. The task force will make recommendations to the Saint Paul Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity (HREEO) Commission, who will in turn make recommendations to the City Council and Mayor.
Council Member Jane Prince elaborated on the benefits of this approach when she explained:
“I think if we’re going to consider doing this kind of an ordinance, we really need to involve the business community, and create an ordinance in a way that includes their needs and concerns,” Prince said. “If we’re going to be looking at adding regulations, we need to take a look at regulations that need to go away, or ways in which we could support their growth and prosperity.”
Bottom Line
As we have reported (Will We See Mandatory Sick Leave?, Dec. 30, 2015), paid sick leave legislation seems to be gaining steam. A few states (most recently Oregon) and a number of municipalities have already enacted some sort of requirement, and others are seriously considering it.
St. Paul’s approach may have a greater chance of success than the Minneapolis proposal since it involves collaboration with the business community right from the beginning. We will keep our eye on this.