What is the Status of Paid Sick Days Legislation in Milwaukee?
Julie Schwartz Weber May 20th, 2009
While Washington D.C. and San Francisco are currently the only cities providing paid sick days to their constituents, there is one city, Milwaukee, WI, that has a unique story about similar legislation, as I shared with Smart Money magazine reporter, Aleksandra Todorova
Last November, 69% of Milwaukeeans (approximately 157,117 people) voted in favor of a paid sick days ordinance. This legislation, similar to existing legislation in D.C. and San Francisco, requires employers to provide workers with time off to tend to their own medical treatment or preventive care, as well as to tend to those medical needs of a close family member. Like D.C.’s legislation, Milwaukee’s ordinance also includes time off to care for one’s own or a family member’s medical/safety needs related to domestic violence.
However, while the ordinance formally passed, on December 22, 2008, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, Inc. (MMAC) filed a lawsuit in the Milwaukee County Circuit Court challenging the legality of it. Part and parcel to their lawsuit, MMAC requested that the court issue a temporary injunction to prohibit enforcement of the ordinance until the court made a decision on the ordinance’s legality. This temporary injunction was granted, and today, the people of Milwaukee await the determination of the court.
A hearing on a permanent injunction (as opposed to the temporary one now in place) occurred on May 11th. While it is unclear how Judge Thomas R. Cooper will rule, he has indicated that whatever he decides “[t]here’s a dead certainty that the case will go to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.” He expects to reach a decision by mid-June. We will keep you posted!
A Milwaukee based auditing firm announced to all non management employees that they are taking away all paid sick time, not to mention paid holidays and vacation. Regardless on any ordinance bad companies like these will still find a way to get out of it.