Testimony: Spread awareness of paid sick leave laws with Intro 1797
Emerita Torres
Hearing on Workplace Safety During COVID-19
Before the NYC Council Committee on Civil Service and Labor
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on workplace safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. My name is Emerita Torres. I am the Vice President for Policy, Research and Advocacy at the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), a nonprofit organization that works to advance upward mobility for low-income New Yorkers. We have been leaders in the fight to expand protections and benefits for low-wage workers, including efforts to pass the paid sick days law in New York City and more recently, the passage of paid sick days statewide as part of the FY 2021 state budget. Today my testimony will be focused on Intro 1797, which would require the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to produce posters for voluntary display at pharmacies and health care locations around the city informing New Yorkers of their right to paid sick leave.
As the city grapples with a second surge in coronavirus cases and the city’s public schools shut down for a second time since the start of the pandemic, it is critical that New Yorkers are aware of their right to take job-protected paid sick leave under the city’s existing paid sick days law. In addition to New York City’s law, Intro 1797 could easily be amended to include information on temporary federal and state COVID-19 sick leave measures that enable New Yorkers to take paid sick leave so that they can quarantine or care for a child whose school is closed due to the coronavirus.
Recent analysis of CSS’s 2020 Unheard Third survey, which polls low-income New Yorkers across the city, found that this information is sorely needed, with a majority of New Yorkers reporting that they have heard little to nothing about federal, state or city paid sick leave laws. Just 40 percent of New York City residents said that they had heard about the city’s own sick days law, which has been in effect since 2014, and even fewer—32 percent—were aware of the state’s COVID-19 sick leave enacted at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. Disturbingly, many low-income workers know little to nothing about federal, state and local paid sick leave laws, even though they’re the ones who can least afford to take time off to quarantine and stand to benefit the most from these measures. Less than half of low-income workers were familiar with the city’s paid sick days requirement (39 percent), and even smaller shares knew about the state COVID-19 leave (37 percent) or the federal act (33 percent).
Federal, state and city paid sick leave laws can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 by enabling low-income workers to stay home without fear of losing their jobs or their paychecks—but they’re effective only if workers know about them. Research has shown that paid sick leave leads to healthier families and communities. For example, a study of data from the 2009 flu outbreak found that workers with paid sick leave were 30 percent more likely to be vaccinated against flu and were more likely to seek treatment when they were sick with flu-like symptoms, compared to those without paid sick leave. Another recent study found that the general flu rate in jurisdictions with paid sick days laws fell by 5.5 to 6.5 percent after the laws took effect.
With more New Yorkers visiting health care locations and clinics for COVID-19 testing, Intro 1797 would be a simple, very low-cost way to get the word out and would target the information to the right people at the right time. Moreover, many employees continue to work remotely and have less exposure to workplace bulletin boards where information on sick leave and other labor laws is posted. And they have less interaction with co-workers and HR staff who could share information by word-of-mouth. Widespread posters would also improve awareness among employers and the general public, making it harder for the most vulnerable workers to be denied their rights. With the city poised to enter the second wave of the coronavirus, we urge the City Council to pass Intro 1797.
Now more than ever, every New Yorker needs to know about their right to paid sick leave, for the health of all of us.