Paid Sick Leave

What to Know: TPPF attorneys will be in court today to argue Austin’s mandatory paid sick leave ordinance.

“Austin’s ordinance was scheduled to go into effect on Oct. 1, with San Antonio’s ordinance to follow next year, but a court-ordered temporary block and looming threats of state legislative action have interrupted that timeline,” the Texas Tribune reports. “The uncertainty began on June 22, when the Texas Association of Business (“TAB”), joined by businesses, business advocacy groups and the State of Texas, asked the Travis County district court to temporarily enjoin the ordinance from taking effect. The challengers argued, among other things, that state law, including the Texas Minimum Wage Act, preempted the paid sick leave ordinance.”

“The fight surrounding the ordinance has become somewhat routine in Texas — Austin’s liberal-leaning city council passes a local regulation, but conservative state lawmakers argue that it is an overreach. The fight then goes to the courts or the Legislature,” the Texas Tribune reports.

The TPPF Take: Mandatory paid sick leave comes at a high cost to employers and to workers themselves. And it violates Texas law. That’s why TPPF is fighting this ordinance in court.

“Leave policies are best negotiated between employer and employee without the imposition of a one-size-fits-all mandate from the city that may not be in either party’s best interests,” says TPPF’s Rob Henneke. “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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