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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2019 - 2020 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted:	January 16, 2019 04:24 PM
From:	Senator Vincent J. Hughes and Sen. Katie J. Muth
To:	All Senate members
Subject:	Employee Paid Sick Leave

In the near future we plan to reintroduce Senate Bill 207, known as the “Healthy Employee/Healthy Workplace Act,” which would require every employer in this Commonwealth to provide paid sick leave to employees. Over the past several years, paid sick leave has gained attention as numerous cities across the United States have enacted ordinances mandating paid sick leave. Since 2011 when Connecticut became the first state to require paid sick leave, nine other states and the District of Columbia have enacted paid sick leave laws. Pennsylvania should join those states in promoting healthy employees, healthy workplaces, and healthy families by enacting a paid sick leave law. Our proposal will be modeled after California’s Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014. Last session’s legislative activity focused on prohibiting municipalities from enacting paid sick leave ordinances; we 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. We believe we can enact a well-balanced approach that meets both these goals in the upcoming session. We hope you will join us in co-sponsoring this important piece of legislation. If you have any questions, please contact Michael Deery in Senator Hughes’ office at 717-787-7112 or Michael.Deery@pasenate.com or Sonia Kikeri in Senator Muth’s office at 717-787-1398.

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