Title
Requesting that the Minnesota Legislature advance a statewide uniform standard for earned sick and safe leave.
Body
Whereas, earned sick and safe time refers to accrued hours of paid leave provided by an employer to an employee for purposes of addressing their health and safety needs or those of family members for whom they are responsible; and
Whereas, national data indicates that 22 percent of full-time employees and 74 percent of part-time employees lack access to earned sick and safe time; and that having a healthy and safe workforce is a human rights issue and a public health issue of interest throughout the state of Minnesota; and
Whereas, those who don’t have the benefit of earned sick and safe time are disproportionately employed in occupations that require workers to have contact with large numbers of people, including those related to food preparation, hospitality, personal care, construction and cleaning/maintenance; and
Whereas, at least 208 outbreaks of foodborne illness in Minnesota between 2004 and 2013 were linked to employees working while sick; and
Whereas, those who don’t have the benefit of earned sick and safe time are concentrated in low-paid occupations and are disproportionately Hispanic, African American, American Indian, Asian and other workers of color; and
Whereas, access to earned sick and safe time has been shown to help workers recover more quickly when sick, visit their health care provider for curative and preventive care, provide critical care for children and other dependent family members and seek assistance related to domestic violence, stalking or sexual assault; and
Whereas, legislation requiring varying levels of earned sick and safe time has been passed in four states, 21 cities and one county in the US; and
Whereas, the Saint Paul City Council adopted such an ordinance on September 7, 2016, requiring that all the city’s employers provide earned sick and safe leave to all employees; and
Whereas, ha...
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