Heard in the Hall

Will mandatory sick pay in New York pressure Nutter to do same here?

New York is about to approve mandatory sick pay for workers. On April 4, Mayor Nutter will decide whether to do the same in Philadelphia.

Will mandatory sick pay in New York pressure Nutter to do same here?

POSTED: Friday, March 29, 2013, 11:05 AM

Now that New York is on the verge of approving mandatory paid sick leave for workers, what will happen in Philadelphia?

For the second time, Philadelphia City Council passed a bill requiring companies to pay workers when they are sick. The first time, Michael Nutter vetoed it, and the bill’s sponsor, Councilman Bill Greenlee, could not gin up enough votes for an override.

In its most recent testimony on the bill, Nutter administration officials maintained their position that while they support paying workers when they are ill, they think it’s unwise for Philadelphia to pass such legislation in isolation when surrounding suburbs do not require it.

Nutter is expected to make a decision on the current bill April 4. Stay tuned.

Click here for Philly.com's politics page.

Miriam Hill @ 11:05 AM Permalink | 9 comments

Comments (9)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:22 AM, 03/29/2013

Just another intrusion into the private sector. That's for the unions, employees and employers to has out. I agree that employers should have a reasonable sick leave policy. But let the normal market competition for good employees dictate the policies. This will just be one more reason for local city employers to move to the burbs or out of state.

— Tiller

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:25 PM, 03/29/2013

It's just pathetic. Instead of being a leader on issues - we look to NY for permission to do the right thing. This town used to be somebody. Now - we're NY's butler.

— Poit

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:10 PM, 03/29/2013

The magic of the market will not make this happen. As it is, 95% of restaurants do not provide it. No, this is a case where the market encourages low-road behavior by employers. It has to be mandated by law. Service jobs aren't going anywhere either. The majority of the jobs that lack paid sick leave are service jobs. These jobs that lack paid sick leave are in Philadelphia because we have the customer base to support them. 80% of the restaurants in the state of PA are in Philadelphia not because it is cheaper here, but because the customers are here. Earned Sick Leave will not drive out business. If done right, this benefit will save employers money. Check out the study released at iwpr dot org.

— Fabricio Rodriguez

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:16 PM, 03/29/2013

Billionaire, Mr. 1% Bloomberg won't be happy until he has personally killed every small business in NYC. But yeah, let's all goose-step behind Little Hitler.

— b,ill a,tkins

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:23 PM, 03/29/2013

Bloomberg be doing it gangnam style

— GANGNAM STYLE

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:38 PM, 03/29/2013

Pass it and keep on seeing jobs flee the city.

— CD75

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 7:51 AM, 03/30/2013

Let's make a decison quickly before suburban office rents go up.

— tr88

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 7:52 AM, 03/30/2013

Why would anyone start a business in this city or any city?? Why would anyone have their primary residence in the city unless they worked for the city?

— jasjfarrell

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 9:24 AM, 03/30/2013

City Council must decide where their role of operating the city ends and where private initiative and businesses, which pay the city's income, starts.

A wise Council would already know the answer; these folks in City Hall however are rather short a few bushels of wisdom. They love, more than anything, to kill the golden goose of our city with a thousand cuts and this is another cut.

— GAC