Allegheny County paid sick leave bill presented to board of health

The Allegheny County Health Department on Wednesday presented a proposal to the board of health for countywide paid sick leave. The bill had started in Allegheny County Council, but was vetoed by County Executive Rich Fitzgerald in March, after he said he believed it should go through the board of health, not council.

Otis Pitts, the department’s deputy director of public policy and community relations, presented the bill, and the board voted to open the discussion for public comment.

As was the case when the bill was introduced in county council, the policy would affect all employers with 26 or more employees. Workers would accrue at least one hour of paid sick time for every 35 hours work, and they would be entitled to use it on the 90th calendar day following their first day on the job. Workers can accrue a maximum of 40 hours of paid sick leave, unless the employer allows more.

The policy says paid sick time can be used when the worker or a family member is sick or injured. It can also be used if the place of business closes during a public health emergency, or if the worker must care for a child whose school closed for the same reason.

Fitzgerald last month said he supported the policy, but worried it could be challenged in court if not passed by the board of health.

“I commend council for their interest in enacting this policy and taking steps to protect the residents of this county. We have the same goal but are going about reaching it in different ways,” he said in March. “This issue is too important to our community, and particularly to those workers who would have protection in the form of paid sick leave, for it to be done the wrong way. It’s simply not fair to give employees in our county false hope that they’re protected when the process followed by Council jeopardizes that.”

Allegheny County is not the first entity to consider mandatory paid sick leave: cities, counties and entire states have adopted policies in recent years.

“If Allegheny County were to enact a form of paid sick leave,” Pitts said in the board of health meeting, “we would join 16 states, 29 cities and three other county governments in adopting this important policy.”

Pitts said workers without paid sick leave are three times more likely to forgo medical care when they’re sick or injured, and the lack of access is more likely to affect those in low-wage positions. Fewer than half of low-wage workers have access to paid sick leave, Pitts said, compared to 90% of high-wage workers nationwide.

“We believe that enacting this new Article 24 will position individuals and families throughout the county for better health outcomes,” Pitts said. “As the covid pandemic has brought to light, those who work in front-line and service settings like restaurants, nursing homes and child care often have the greatest exposure and interactions with the public; yet, these same positions do not simply have access to paid sick leave.”

Paid sick leave policies have been supported by health organizations like the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the American Public Health Association (APHA), he noted.

Board members were largely supportive of the policy as a whole, but debated about the threshold of 26 employees for businesses affected. Several worried that businesses would try to find loopholes to the rule, like hiring only 25 workers, cutting hours or increasing the number of part-time workers.

Following the discussion, the board unanimously voted to open the regulation up for 30 days of public comment, including a public hearing.