One of the most important workers rights laws in Pittsburgh is the Paid Sick Days Act, which guarantees working people paid time off to recover from being sick or to take care of a sick family member.

This means that if you are working full time (with a few exemptions), you are entitled to 40 hours annually of paid sick time. It also means that if you are working part time, you accrue one hour of paid sick time for every 35 hours you work up to the 40-hour cap.

The city of Pittsburgh is fortunate to have paid sick leave for its workers. The United States is one of the only industrialized countries without a national paid sick leave law. Likewise, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania does not have such a law. And Pittsburgh’s implementation of the Paid Sick Days Act did not come without a fight: The law was tied up in litigation for five years before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that it was constitutional. The law went into effect in March 2020, and information about it and how to report complaints is posted on the city website.  

My administration is committed to meaningful enforcement of paid sick leave. Not enough workers and employers in our city know about the right to paid sick leave under the law. In order to make sure that we have robust enforcement, my administration in July launched the Office of Equal Protection, which focuses on workers’ rights, civil rights and public safety. The Office of Equal Protection will investigate and resolve all paid sick leave complaints and educate the public about paid sick leave rights.

Marginalized and low-income communities stand to gain the most from paid sick time. According to the Economic Policy Institute, coverage of paid sick time is “vastly unequal.” While approximately 90% of America’s highest paid workers get paid sick days, only about 20% of low-wage workers have the same benefit. The people most commonly without paid sick leave are our “essential” or “front-line” workers, particularly in the health care and service industries.

Food service workers are especially hard hit by lack of paid sick leave. According to a recent study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, workers who handle food while they are ill are among the leading drivers of foodborne illness outbreaks at restaurants, especially norovirus and salmonella. Fewer than half of restaurants (44%) that the CDC surveyed offered paid sick leave. The study concluded that giving restaurant workers access to paid sick leave could mitigate the risks associated with food contamination.

Employers also stand to gain from paid sick leave by reducing occupational injuries and the spread of contagious disease. A report by the National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety stated that workers with access to paid sick leave were 28% less likely overall to suffer nonfatal occupational injuries than workers without access to paid sick leave. Employers may benefit from improved productivity if paid sick leave helps reduce absenteeism or diminished capacity in the workplace.

In short, employers and employees both benefit when sick workers are allowed to stay home and recover.

My administration hopes to hear from you and ensure that you are getting access to paid sick time. Please contact Anne Marie Ellison, the city’s compliance coordinator and paid sick leave administrator, at paidsickleave@pittsburghpa.gov if you are being denied your paid sick leave rights.

Today at 10 a.m. during a ceremony at City Hall, Mayor Ed Gainey will announce September as Paid Sick Leave month in the city of Pittsburgh as the Office of Equal Protection works to inform workers of their rights around sick leave and toward enforcing the ordinance with local employers. 

Ed Gainey

Ed is mayor of the city of Pittsburgh.

Zeke Rediker

Zeke is executive advisor on legal policy for the Pittsburgh Office of the Mayor.