Washington, D.C. — Today, the Maryland General Assembly passed a proposal that would require Maryland employers with 15 or more employees to provide at least five days of earned paid sick leave to employees. Currently, more than 750,000 Marylanders do not have access to a single paid sick day.
The bill is now with Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who has threatened to veto. Shilpa Phadke, Senior Director of the Women’s Initiative at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement in response:
Virtually all workers will at some point in their working years need time away from work to tend to a sick child, an ailing loved one, or a personal illness. But as all too many Maryland workers and their families already know, our nation’s lack of guaranteed paid sick leave can place a huge strain on workers. No one should have to risk losing their job or missing a paycheck in order to care for a sick loved one. By guaranteeing workers the right to earn paid sick leave, this bill would provide much-needed relief to Marylanders throughout the state.
CAP research shows that paid sick days are not job killers—a fact that remains true in nearly every city that has passed paid sick days. Instead, these policies help make workplaces healthier and more productive. I urge Governor Hogan to sign this bill.
CAP’s analysis shows that in 16 of the 19 cities and states where paid sick day laws were passed from 2007 to July 2015, unemployment had not risen one year after the implementation of paid sick days. In two of the three cities where unemployment did increase, implementation of the paid sick day law directly coincided with the Great Recession.
The United States is one of the only developed countries that does not guarantee paid sick leave. Across the country, states and municipalities are recognizing the benefits of paid leave, not just for workers but also for businesses. In recent years, states including California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Vermont, as well as New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., among other cities, have adopted measures that guarantee workers the right to earn paid sick days.
Read: Paid Sick Days and Paid Family Medical Leave Are Not Job Killers by Danielle Corley, Sunny Frothingham, and Kate Bahn
For more information or to speak to an expert, contact Chelsea Kiene at [email protected] or 202.478.5328.