Albany County Proposes Law For Employers to Offer ALL Employees Paid Sick Time
Under the proposed law full and part time workers can accrue sick time.
To be honest I'm not sure why this isn't a thing already? First of all no one wants to either be around sick people at work or go to work when they're sick but sometimes you have to show up or risk not being able to pay your bills. Especially if you are at a (or multiple) part time gig.
I read recently that "There’s no county in America where a minimum wage earner can support a family." which is such a sad reality on so many levels but whether that's the only job you could get, you are working it to supplement your full time gig, or that is all that works with your life and schedule it makes it impossible to take time off because you are ill.
Most full time employees get paid sick time from their employers so those most effected are working in retail, transportation and food service. In fact an Institute for Women’s Policy Research report estimates that
Roughly 40 percent of workers living in Albany County have no paid sick days, with the service and transportation sectors ranking lowest for paid sick day access.
However, the TU is reporting that a new law dubbed "Local Law C" has been proposed that would require employers in Albany County to allow workers to accrue a minimum of one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked. Which equals out to 72 hours, or nine days, of paid sick time a year!
Apparently a public hearing on the proposal is set for May 29th, subject to approval by the Albany County Legislature at its May 14 meeting. So if you would like to voice your opinion on the matter one way or another. Learn more on the proposed law by clicking here.