Group asks Palatine to support Cook County's new sick day rule

An interfaith labor rights group spoke in favor of a Cook County Board resolution that mandates five paid sick days to employees working within the county, a plan Palatine Village Manager Reid Ottesen called a "complete overreach" in October.

The bill affects most private employers throughout the county and goes into effect in July 2017.

Adam Kader, worker center director for Arise Chicago, said the group was disappointed to hear Ottesen's opposition to the county's resolution.

"We urge Palatine in doing the right thing, to join the rest of the county in embracing this basic human right," Kader said Monday night before the village council meeting.

Kader said the group, a pro-worker group that partners with immigrants and interfaith religious leaders, helped pass the plan at the county level.

Ottesen said he is opposed to the resolution because it would force Palatine businesses to provide services to their employees that businesses on the other side of Lake-Cook Road wouldn't have to provide.

"We're not passing judgment on whether it's right or wrong, what we're saying is we need a level playing field for all businesses," Ottesen said. "And if this is good enough in one area then it should be done at a statewide level."

The village council, who will ultimately decide whether to pass an ordinance to oppose the county's rule, has not publicly weighed in on the issue.

During public comment, two members of Arise Chicago addressed the council and urged them to support the sick days ordinance.

Thakar Basati, a Palatine resident and member of the village's Sikh community, said when he owned a business in Palatine, it wasn't a burden for him to offer paid sick days to his employees and it was important the employees had them.

Ann Bosslet, a Hoffman Estates resident who works in a Palatine school, said she has seen students from low-income families who have to go to school when they are sick because their parents aren't able to take a sick day to be home with them.

The village council won't discuss the issue until February or March, according to Ottesen.