City businesses blast proposed sick leave law

Members of the business community turned out at Thursday's City council meeting to lambaste proposed sick leave legislation as a job-killing burden on business, even though the bill wasn't up for consideration.

The proposal would require businesses to give employees paid sick days, which several speakers characterized as costly "unscheduled vacation days."

"If you pass this bill, we will not be able to stay in Philadelphia," said Candace Sneberger, founder and CEO of vacationwired.com. "We run an Internet, online travel company. We can operate from anywhere in the world, and we will go some place that is more employer friendly."

This comes a day after another bill disfavored by business – the "ban the box" legislation - moved closer to becoming law.

That bill, intended to help ex-offenders find jobs, would ban employers from inquiring about criminal history until after a first interview.

Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller, the sponsor, has worked for more than a year to make changes that would address the fears of the business community.

While no one offered testimony opposing the ban the box bill during a committee hearing Wednesday, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce sent a letter saying it could not support the measure.

Chamber President and CEO Rob Wonderling said the two measures, taken together, were troubling.

"We are concerned there is a broader pattern emerging in which the local government feels the need to interfere in the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors," he said.

Wonderling argued that Philadelphia already has an "uncompetitive tax structure" and high unemployment.

"It just doesn't make sense for the local government to put up an ordinance that further raises the cost of doing business," he said.

The Nutter administration opposes the paid sick leave bill, but has expressed support for ban the box, which would carry a fine of up to $2,000 for businesses that violate the measure.

The ban the box bill was amended to assure businesses that they would not be forced to hire ex-offenders or to hire anyone without a background check. But Wonderling said businesses still fear the bill would expose them to claims of discrimination if they didn't hire ex-offenders.

A final vote to pass the bill could come at the March 24 council meeting.

Paid sick leave was voted out of committee earlier this month, a move Wonderling said surprised him. Nonetheless, Councilman Darrell L. Clarke, one of the sponsors, promised that the bill would move no further without input from the business community.

"We are going to continue to have the dialogue with those affected," Clarke said. "This will not be something that we will pass or, frankly speaking, put on the calendar for final passage . . . without additional conversations."

Wonderling said the chamber is commissioning a study on the impact of a paid sick leave bill. He said he was "encouraged by the dialogue and the hand of cooperation that has been extended" by council.

Only two other large cities have similar paid sick leave laws.

The argument against the law is that employees use the days whether they are sick or not, amounting to additional paid vacation days.

The argument for the law is that, without paid sick days, ill employees would go to work and give their colds and flus to coworkers.

Phyllis Harris, on the staff of Mt. Pisgah A.M.E. Church, was one of the few speakers to raise that point at Thursday's council meeting.

"When the workplace is healthy, you have an employee that is willing to work even harder because they feel more honored and respected by the employer," she said.