Connecticut Employment Lawyer & Attorney : Daniel Schwartz : Stamford, Hartford New Haven, CT

Late Thursday night, the State Senate passed the Paid Sick Leave bill (S.B. 217) with various amendments including an exemption for some existing collective bargaining agreements.  The vote was a close one -- 20-16 -- and you can find the roll call here.

The bill would make Connecticut the first state to require employers of 50 or more, to allow workers to take 6½ paid sick days per year. It would also apply to municipalities.  One additional amendment that passed would limt the times when employee could use sick time for an illness of an employee or employee's child.

The bill now moves on to the House for further consideration, where nearly 40 legislators have publicly co-sponsored the bill already.  Some of the sponsors of the bill have predicted passage there, but its real future is unknown at this point, with the session winding down.  Debate in the Senate took two days and it is unclear if there is enough time left for the bill to pass. 

The Hartford Courant has a late report and reaction here:

[State Senator Edith] Prague called the bill a major boon to average working people, "especially single parents, like women, who have to go to work. They can't afford the luxury of staying home if they're sick. They need that day's pay to feed the kids ... and heat the house." ...

But opponents said the increasing business competition in a difficult economy is the reason that lawmakers should not approve the bill: It would put Connecticut at a disadvantage and cost the jobs of some of the very workers it is intended to help, they said.

The state's leading business lobbying group, the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, has said the bill "would cost employers in dollars and productivity — a tough one-two punch in this weakening economy."

Various political blogs have started to chime in, including My Left Nutmeg here.  My prior coverage of the bill can be found here.

UPDATE: You can also find the CT News Junkie coverage of the bill here.

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On Tuesday, I noted that the Paid Sick Leave Bill had been re-introduced this year and that it was "the one to watch" this year.

On Wednesday, February 27th, State Senator Edith Prague -- and others -- held a news conference to push for its passage. Christine Stuart, at CT News Junkie, has the details:

For the second year in a row, state Sen. Edith Prague, D-Columbia, a dozen other Democratic legislators, along with the Working Families Party, are trying to pass legislation that forces companies with more than 25 employees to give their workers a chance to earn up to 6.5 sick days a year.

“We need to treat people like they’re human beings,” Prague said at an afternoon press conference. State Rep. Steve Fontana, D-North Haven, said, “I think this is legislation whose time has come.” Last year the bill passed the state Senate by a vote of 23 to 13, however, it never came to a vote in the House.

The Working Families Party has created a website devoted to this issue at www.everybodybenefits.org.  What's interesting is that this group presents this also as a public health issue, not only a worker fairness issue (though they do not cite in any obvious way, where their numbers are from).  The problem, according to the website, is:

Around 40% of working people in Connecticut don't get a single paid sick day all year long. Among low wage workers, that figure rises to more than 75%.  Only 20% of food service worker. Childcare, retail, and nursing workers are also less likely to have paid sick days.

Presenteeism - the phenomenon of employees coming in to work sick, but working less productively and possibly spreading illness - costs employers an estimated $255 per employee per year. That's more than the cost of guaranteeing paid sick days.

A hearing on the bill is scheduled for Thursday; details are provided in my prior post. 

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