Paid Sick Leave

Introduced on June 27, 2011, the Seattle City Council has passed a proposed paid sick leave ordinance, sponsored by Councilmember Nick Licata, at its full meeting September 12, 2011.

This ordinance promotes healthy work environments by establishing standards for paid sick days and ensuring that employers provide minimum amount of paid time off for employees to take care of themselves or their sick family members.

The bill was discussed at three meetings of the Housing, Human Services, Health and Culture committee (HHSHC), one public hearing, one town hall and one community forum, as well as a stakeholder process convened by Council President Richard Conlin and Councilmember Nick Licata. The bill passed out of the HHSHC committee at its August 10, 2011 meeting by a vote of 4-0-1 and passed full council by a vote of 8-1.

The bill that was passed out of committee was substituted by a newer version – a result of collaboration between Councilmember Nick Licata and Councilmember Tim Burgess – and is supported by Mayor Mike McGinn.

Videos:

• 9/12/11 Full Council Meeting
• 8/10/11 HHSHC Committee Meeting
• Summary of Changes
• 7/27/11 HHSHC Committee Meeting
• Proposed Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance – Decision Agenda
• Paid Sick/Safe Leave Ordinance Issues and Potential Options
• 7/26/2011 How Would a Sick Leave Ordinance Affect You? Council chamber event
• 7/13/11 HHSHC Committee Meeting
• Proposed Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance
• 7/6/11 HHSHC Committee Public Hearing
• 6/22/11 HHSHC Committee Meeting
• Proposed Paid Sick Leave Ordinance: Summary of Key Provisions
• Comparison among Other Jurisdictions' Paid Sick and Safe Time Legislation
• 5/27/11 City Inside/Out, Seattle Channel
• 5/11/11 Town Hall Forum on Paid Sick Days in Seattle, University Christian Church

Stakeholder process convened by Council President Richard Conlin and Councilmember Nick Licata

• Letter from Council President Richard Conlin and Councilmember Nick Licata
• Participants
• Meeting #1 agenda, handouts, minutes
• Meeting #2 agenda, handouts, minutes
• Summary of Option

In the news:

• Radio interview with Councilmember Nick Licata (skip to 1:12:00), BBC Radio, 9/13/2011
• City Council Passes Paid Sick Leave Measure, Mostly Everyone Stoked, Seattlest, 9/13/2011
• Seattle mandates paid sick leave for workers, Seattle PI, 9/12/2011
• Ken Schram: Mandatory sick leave the right thing to do, KOMO News, 9/12/2011
• Seattle poised to adopt mandatory sick leave law, Los Angeles Times, 9/9/2011
• Council has votes to require paid sick leave, Seattle Times, 9/8/2011
• Seattle to pass amended mandatory sick leave bill, Seattle PI, 9/8/2011
• Seattle's sick-leave bill gets business-friendly changes, Seattle Times, 8/12/2011

Additional Information:

• City Council to vote on final paid sick leave legislation, Council news release, 9/8/2011
• Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata's statement on economists backing paid sick leave legislation 08/08/2011
• City Councilmember Nick Licata invites media outlets to discussion on paid sick leave 07/25/2011
• Press coverage: Seattle Coalition for a Healthy Workforce
• Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata's statement on economists backing paid sick leave legislation, Council news release, 8/8/2011
• Councilmember Nick Licata's Urban Politics #309, 7/23/2011
• Council Bill #117216