DC Paid Sick Days Law A Success, Report Says

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Washington DC’s local paid sick days law is a success, according to a report released last week by the Office of the District of Columbia Auditor (ODCA). The report examined the 2008 law’s impact on businesses, workers, and the economy and found that the percentage of businesses that offered paid sick days increased by 18 percent, from half of all businesses in 2007 to 68 percent in 2012. However, nearly one in three businesses reported that they still do not enable their employees to earn paid sick days. “The bottom line is that compliance needs to be improved,” said D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson.  “It is in nobody’s best interest when workers must work sick. The solution will probably require a mix of better enforcement and a tightening of the law.” Added Ari Weisbard, Deputy Director of the Employment Justice Center (EJC), which pushed for the long-delayed audit, “If we want to get our economy back on track, we need to make sure that working people earn enough money to cover the basics.” Click here for the EJC’s complete report.