Paid Sick Leave Expansion Bill Prepares For Final Votes In Assembly

A bill to increase the minimum number of paid sick leave days a year for employees from three to seven, as well as expand the minimum number of accrued sick days a year from six to fourteen, prepared for the final week of votes in the legislature as it is on the suspense file in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Senate Bill 616, authored by Senator Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) would specifically require employers to provide seven sick days to employees who work 30 or more days within a year from commencement of employment, rather than the current three. In addition, the maximum number of paid sick days that can be carried over from one year to the next would also be increased from three to seven. SB 616 also would increase the minimum number of total accrued paid sick leave days a year from six to fourteen for businesses that work under accrued days.

Railroad workers would get a special provision under the bill as well, excluding railroad carrier employers and their employees  from the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act , and giving them access to sick days by requiring them to take at least seven days of paid sick leave annually.

Gonzalez authored the bill earlier this year for multiple reasons. She said that more sick leave days are needed because of how the COVID-19 pandemic showed how such days off were needed, and that only three days a year was not enough as an existing safety net. Lower-income jobs, in particular, rarely went beyond the minimum number of paid sick leave days during the pandemic, with temporary increases in sick leave days often not being enough. As missing three days with unpaid sick leave cost many families grocery money for a month during the pandemic, an increase in paid sick leave days would be needed to help bridge the financial gap for families. Railroad workers were once again singled out as well, with Gonzalez saying that requiring seven sick leave days a year was needed as railroad companies often deny requests for days off, even if made well in advance.

Gonzalez further backed up her point by saying that increased sick leave would actually benefit employers. In a fact sheet released earlier this year, Gonzalez said that “Paid sick leave can reduce employers’ overall costs by containing potential disease outbreaks and allowing workers to recover faster and return to work more productive. Studies have also shown that paid sick leave decreases the probability of job separation by at least 25%. Workers with paid sick leave are less likely to leave their jobs, saving businesses money on turnover expenses such as interviewing and training.”

While the bill has been heavily supported for those reasons by many employee groups and labor unions, including both the California Labor Federation and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), there has also been significant opposition. Employers groups, such as the California Chamber of Commerce, have stressed that increasing the minimum number of paid sick leave days could financially hurt smaller businesses. They also said that, under SB 616, employers would not be able to ask for documentation, such as a doctors note, from the employees taking those seven days off.

“There is a huge risk for abuse here,” said employment placement specialist Amanda Del Rio. “Seven paid days off is a lot to swallow for many smaller businesses that can’t really afford having employees get more paid days off. These businesses, to ensure everything is on the level and that they aren’t just taking days off because, need that documentation. But SB 616 ignores all those concerns. It’s a small disaster waiting to happen if passed.”

That heightened concern has started to influence many Assemblymembers in the past few months. While passed in the Senate 27-9 with 4 abstaining in May, there has only been one vote in the Assembly since. SB 616 has languished waiting for an Appropriations Committee vote in the Assembly for several months, and was recently placed on the suspense file earlier in August following service worker rallies in Sacramento.

“There is a lot at stake here,” said Dana, a Capitol staffer. “Interestingly, more and more lawmakers here are beginning to analyze it more because of that question over documentation being needed for sick days. A solution for many has been to just lump all sick and vacation days into one to avoid this problem, but many employers still have separate categories. There’s also concern for smaller businesses and how it can affect them. I don’t think it is enough to block this bill, but as past work and employment laws that were passed through here have shown, it may be enough for those against it to say ‘I told you so’ for when it starts to develop problems.”

SB 616 is expected to be voted on in the Assembly in the coming week.