Your sick kid is putting a hole in my head

In Milwaukee this morning, there is news that an act of participatory democracy…

Petitioners press city to require paid sick days
Petitions signed by an estimated 40,000 people will be delivered to Milwaukee City Hall today in a bid to get the Common Council to require that all employers in the city provide paid sick days to employees.

A coalition of labor, educational and community organizations calling itself Paid Sick Days Milwaukee, led by 9 to 5, the National Association of Working Women, is behind the effort.

The coalition has reached into state statutes and a seldom-used law called “direct legislation,” which allows citizens to bring proposed legislation before a city or village governing body.

…is being met with…

Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, said he’s not unsympathetic to the issue. But, he said, “Milwaukee needs one more thing to make it uncompetitive like it needs a hole in the head.”

Employers in Milwaukee “get the drill and are interested in creating flexible benefits packages for employees, because if they don’t, they aren’t going to compete well,” he said.

“The last thing they need is a government mandate telling them how to deal with their employees.”

Actually, employer’s don’t “get the drill” as Sheehy so baldly claims. As the article points out, and as 9 to 5 documents in a 2007 report (PDF), less than half of full-time private sector workers have paid sick days. And only 25 percent of low-wage workers do.

What’s even more disturbing is that for workers who do have paid sick days, only one in three can use them to care for sick children or older parents. For employees of small children, it’s a policy that encourages them to lie about why they’re missing work. It’s a problem that's only going to get worse as the population ages and more employees have to care for elderly parents.

As it turns out, businesses that provide sick leave and other appropriate benefits stand to gain a lot. A 2002 study by researchers from the University of Chicago and the University of California-Berkeley found that providing paid family leave would save companies in California $89 million per year, and the state nearly $25 million per year from a decrease in reliance on public welfare programs.

Employees, it turns out, demonstrate a lot of loyalty to companies that demonstrate flexibility when family issues arise.

As usual, this surprises no one—except leaders of Milwaukee’s business community such as Sheehy, who I’m sure will free up some time from his usual pursuit of tearing down the public school system to oppose this measure.

With 40,000 signatures, it seems certain that the group will force members of the Milwaukee Common Council to take some kind of stand as the issues progresses this summer.

Stay tuned.