Tue, 04/26/2016
Law360, New York (January 14, 2016, 2:38 PM ET) —
At the end of last year, the town of Elizabeth, New Jersey, became the 22nd city in the country to pass a paid sick leave law. In the last three years, these cities — from Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia — along with four states, have joined a growing movement that started with Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, to guarantee that private- and public-sector workers are able to earn and use paid sick time to care for themselves or a family member.
Action by local and state governments and by voters has in no small part prompted some action at the federal level. In September 2015, President Obama issued an executive order requiring all federal contractors to allow their employees to earn up to seven days of paid sick leave annually.
Congress, however, has not acted similarly to protect the rights of all workers. Accordingly, in the face of entrenched congressional inaction, municipalities will likely continue to lead efforts to enact paid sick leave and other labor laws, bearing responsibility for enforcing new worker protections and rights. The D.C. City Council’s efforts in 2008 and 2013 paved the way for dozens of other cities, including by establishing noncompliance penalties that can help incentivize recalcitrant employers to comply with the law. Today, D.C. can again claim credit for early, precedent-setting action to advance paid sick leave — this time taken by employees in the absence of adequate government oversight.
Laws mean nothing to workers and consumers unless they are actually enforced. In the case of D.C., the actual laws governing paid sick leave are strong, but the sad truth is the mandates are not being enforced. Our clients — home care workers who provide essential services to thousands of seniors and people with disabilities in D.C. — have been denied their rights to earn and use paid sick leave, in violation of the law.
