Bellingham council wants input on paid sick leave rule

City Council will consider requiring employers in the city to provide paid sick leave to their employees.

To start the process, council members want to hear what people think about the proposal, and will hold a meeting to listen to comments at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, in council chambers at City Hall, 210 Lottie St. (The event was moved from its originally planned locaton at the downtown library.)

A draft of the rule can be viewed online at cob.org by searching for “paid sick and safe leave.”

Sick leave is time taken for the employee’s physical or mental illness or that of a family member, while safe leave could be taken in situations related to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or due to a school or workplace being temporarily closed by a public official for one of a few specific hazards.

People will get two minutes to speak if they sign up to talk during the meeting, and can also submit written comments to council Legislative Assistant Marie Marchand at ccmail@cob.org.

Nationwide movement

Council member Roxanne Murphy first brought up the idea of requiring paid leave at a council meeting in July. She said she was inspired by President Barack Obama’s announcement earlier this year that he would push Congress to pass a bill allowing workers to earn seven paid sick days per year.

In September, Obama signed an executive order requiring contractors who work with the federal government to give the benefit to their workers, who are to accrue at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, getting up to seven days or more per year.

Seattle and Tacoma both require employers to provide paid sick and safe leave, and the state of Oregon passed a version of the law in June, joining California, Massachusetts and Connecticut in requiring the policy statewide.

Typically, the laws require that leave accrue at one hour for every 30 or 40 hours worked. Some include tiered requirements for leave accrual and carryover to the next year based on the number of employees an employer has.

Washington state lawmakers tried to pass a similar law during this year’s legislative session, but after it passed in the House it was not taken up for a vote in the Senate.

Proposed Bellingham rule

The proposed change to city code the City Council will look at generally follows rules that other cities and states have put in place.

Under the current draft, employees who work at least 80 hours in a year would get at least one hour of paid sick or safe time for every 30 hours they work, but no employer would have to let them use more than 56 hours (seven 8-hour work days) per year.

As currently written, the ordinance would take effect as soon as it is passed, so employees who currently have jobs would start accruing leave immediately. People hired that day or later would start accruing leave as soon as they start work, but wouldn’t be able to use it for 90 days.

Up to 56 hours of unused leave would carry over to the next year.

Employers who currently offer sick and safe time wouldn’t be subject to the ordinance as long as their programs offer at least as much leave and allow employees to use the time in the same circumstances outlined in the rule.

The rule would not apply to public agencies, including federal and state governments, and any county or local government other than the city of Bellingham.

This story was originally published November 1, 2015 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Bellingham council wants input on paid sick leave rule."