Another N.J. city may force all businesses to provide paid sick leave

PLAINFIELD – The Queen City on Monday could become the 10th municipality in the state, and among fewer than two dozen in the whole country, to adopt its own sick-leave ordinance, requiring all businesses in the city, no matter their size, to provide all workers with paid sick days.

The proposed law would apply to full-time as well as part-time and temporary workers, giving them an hour of sick time for every 30 hours they work.

Workers would be able to use the sick days for scheduled doctor's appointments or to take care of a parent or child who is sick.

The proposal has the backing of labor groups and appears to have the support of the city's Democratic elected officials, including Mayor Adrian Mapp, who this week called the proposal "progressive" and "a win-win for the businesses and the employees."

The ordinance, however, is being opposed by a united coalition of local business groups — Plainfield Chamber of Commerce and members of the Plainfield Special Improvement District and the Plainwood Square Merchants Association — who say the proposed law is cumbersome and punitive: Daily fines for employers could run as high as $2,000.

Some Latino city leaders also have warned that many of the city's immigrant business owners may need more time to understand the law's provisions, which would go into effect 20 days after it's approved.

Support for the ordinance has been bolstered by a study released last month by the Rutgers University's Center for Women and Work, which found that the Jersey City ordinance had no negative impact on businesses there.

The study found that 80 percent of businesses are complying with the law, which went into effect January 2014, and more than 61 percent did not have to change their policies. A third of businesses saw increases in productivity as a result of the law and there was no evidence that employees are abusing the law.

The Jersey City law was less generous to workers than Plainfield's proposal. The Hudson County city's ordinance only requires companies with 10 or more employees to offer paid sick days, while companies with fewer employees have to give unpaid days.

Opponents in Plainfield have managed to put on the breaks, getting the City Council last month to table a vote on it. Several council members and the mayor on Monday said they'd be amenable to reducing the $2,000 fine to $750 and doing away with the requirement that the city publicize violators' names on the city website.

'We have families to feed'

Skeptics include people such as Donna Albanese, the owner of Dairy Queen on South Avenue, who say they already have their own sick-day policies.

"In theory: Yes, it's a wonderful law," said Albanese, a member of the SID and Plainwood Square Merchants Association.

"The business community in the city of Plainfield is very much concerned about the workers of the city and of course we are concerned for their health and everybody else's health. What we want to do is to speak to the administration and come up with a compromise that's fair and easier to implement. Something where it becomes a win-win."

Albanese has just two full-time workers. The rest are mostly teenagers who work part-time and for a few months of the year. When any of her employees need to miss work, they find a co-worker to take their place. It's a policy that Albanese says is fair and manageable.

Plainfield's proposed ordinance, however, would cause a "paperwork nightmare" and could lead to abuse where too many employees could call out sick.

"We have families to feed," she said. "I'm not a billion-dollar corporation."

Some business owners have suggested limiting the ordinance to businesses with at least five or 10 employees or exempting part-time and temporary workers.

Mapp described some of the comments by business groups "way off base" and likened their worries to when businesses argue against minimum wage hikes.

"There is often that talk about losing jobs and businesses moving out of the state. That never happens," he said. "Quite frankly, I am more concerned about the health and well being of our community than any concern about any additional cost that a business might have to bear."

Let the state do it?

Plainfield shop owners are not alone with their concerns. Business groups across the state have opposed similar measures in Jersey City, Newark, Passaic, East Orange, Paterson, Bloomfield and Irvington.

Voters in November passed sick leave laws in Trenton and Montclair, but the Trenton law is being challenged by a lawsuit filed by six trade groups — New Jersey Business & Industry Association, New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce, New Jersey Food Council, New Jersey Restaurant Association, New Jersey Retail Merchants Association and National Federation of Independent Businesses — who argue that the city does not have the legal authority to pass such a law.

A state lawmaker, meanwhile, has introduced a bill that would prohibit towns from passing their own sick-leave or minimum-wage ordinances.

State Sen. Steve Oroho, R-24th District, said such rules should be established by the state. In December, an Assembly committee passed a sick-leave bill that would require all businesses with more than 10 workers to provide at least 72 hours of sick time each year. But Gov. Chris Christie already has said that he would not support such a measure if it came to his desk.

"We don't know if he would veto it, but we have to be prepared if he will," said Rob Duffey of New Jersey Working Families, a political group that has been involved in advocating for local ordinances in Plainfield and elsewhere.

Duffey says the ordinances in the nine cities are covering 150,000 workers who didn't have paid sick days before.

In New Jersey, 38 percent of workers, or 1.2 million, don't get earned sick leave. In the food preparation and service industries, 76 percent of workers lack such benefits, according to a 2011 report by the Institute for Women's Policy Research.

"This brings real benefits to business and improves worker morale," Duffey said. "It gives meaningful economic security to people who could be fired for getting the flu."

Will workers abuse law?

There is scant evidence that workers will abuse sick days. A survey of Connecticut employers after that state implemented its law found that two-thirds of employers reported no increase in cost. A study that looked at San Francisco's 2007 law found no evidence of negative economic effects.

But Marilou Halvorsen, president of the 25,000-member New Jersey Restaurant Hospitality Association, said a one-size-fits-all approach could be costly for her industry. If employees decide to use up their accrued time during the busy December holidays, "you're basically shutting the door."

"There's no way that a restaurant can adjust if three or four employees call out without any notification," she said. "Nobody in the restaurant business wants workers to come into work sick. But there has to be a better way of doing this."

Plainfield's proposal

The proposed city ordinance, which is modeled after ordinances in other cities, does give business owners some protections.

Employers, for example, can request confirmation in writing from an employee who calls out sick. If the use of a sick day is foreseeable, an employer may require reasonable advance notice of up to seven days.

Employers may also require reasonable documentation, such as a signed doctor's note, from workers who use three sick days in a row. But employers cannot request an explanation of the illness or require that a worker find a replacement.

Other provisions:

•Workers in Plainfield would be entitled to one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked.

•Businesses with 10 or more employees can cap earned sick time at 40 hours a year, or five days.

•Businesses with fewer than 10 employees could cap the hours at 24.

•Hours begin to accrue on first day of employment and can be used after 90 days of work.

•Unused hours can be carried over year after year within the cap.

•Sick time carries over if the employee is moved to a new position within a company.

•Employees can keep their sick hours if they lose their jobs but are rehired by the same company within six months.

•Employees maintain their sick hours if their company comes under new management.

•Employers would have to inform their workers in writing about their rights and display a bilingual poster in their workplace.

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Staff Writer Sergio Bichao: 908-243-6615; sbichao@mycentraljersey.com