PAID SICK LEAVE

What to Know: The battle over mandated paid sick leave is widening.

“A split is growing between cities that want to require private companies to give workers paid sick days and states that are determined to stop them,” Pew Charitable Trusts reports. “In the last three years, a dozen states have banned localities from passing paid leave requirements, more than doubling to 22 the states that now outlaw such local ordinances… The state moves come in response to the increasing number of cities and counties passing paid sick days ordinances. Since 2015, more than 20 cities, as well as eight states, have approved measures mandating that companies provide local workers with paid sick leave.”

The TPPF Take: Mandatory paid sick leave comes at a high cost to employers and to workers themselves. And it violates Texas law.

“Employers who can offer paid sick leave do so to retain the best workers,” says TPPF’s Rob Henneke. “It’s like any other part of the compensation package – it should be negotiated between employer and employee. And because mandatory paid sick leave requires a higher level of compensation than the Texas minimum wage, these ordinances run afoul of the Texas Minimum Wage Act.”

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