Posted: | December 9, 2016 10:16 AM |
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From: | Senator Vincent J. Hughes |
To: | All Senate members |
Subject: | Employee Paid Sick Leave |
In the near future I plan to reintroduce SB221 from last session. This bill, known as the “Healthy Employee/Healthy Workplace Act,” would require every employer in this Commonwealth to provide paid sick leave to employees. The issue of paid sick leave has received much attention recently with numerous cities across the United States enacting paid sick leave ordinances. Earlier this year, California and Massachusetts joined Connecticut as states requiring employers to offer paid sick leave to employees. Pennsylvania should join those states in promoting healthy employees, healthy workplaces, and healthy families by enacting a paid sick leave law. My proposal will be modeled after the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, recently signed into law in California and effective July 1, 2015. While legislative activity last session focused on prohibiting municipalities from enacting paid sick leave ordinances, I don’t believe that should be our focus. Rather, we should focus on providing reasonable paid sick leave provisions to our employees in a manner that recognizes the interests and concerns of the business community. I believe we can enact a well-balanced approach that meets both these goals in the upcoming session. I hope you will join me in co-sponsoring this important piece of legislation. If you have any questions, please contact my Chief Counsel, Michael Deery, at 7-7112 or mdeery@pasenate.com at your convenience. |
Introduced as SB207