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Portland Employees Begin Accruing Paid Sick Time

Piper Davis, co-owner of Grand Central Bakery – which bakes and sells bread at its seven Portland restaurants, as well as supplying bread to retail stores and farmers markets – has always provided paid sick days to employees.
January 8, 2014

Piper Davis, co-owner of Grand Central Bakery – which bakes and sells bread at its seven Portland restaurants, as well as supplying bread to retail stores and farmers markets – has always provided paid sick days to employees.

That's partly because many bakeries are unionized, and Davis competes with them for talent, also offering paid vacation time, health insurance and the opportunity to donate sick days to workers with longer-term illnesses or injuries. But she also supported the paid sick days ordinance that took effect last week because it “levels the playing field” for service-oriented businesses.

In addition to providing a competitive compensation package, Davis said her business has always provided paid sick days out of concern for public safety and public health.

“I've been in a lot of places where everybody comes in, no matter what,” said Jesse Johannesen, who has worked for Grand Central for four years, during a press conference at the North Fremont location, where he works. “Then everybody gets wiped out from influenza.”

City commissioner Amanda Fritz, who introduced the paid sick days ordinance approved by the council last year, said the public push for paid sick days came in part from the United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents grocery store workers. UFCW's commercial contract includes paid sick time, but employees aren't allowed to use it until they've been sick for three days.

“That first day is when you're most toxic to your your employers,” Davis said.

Fritz said the ordinance covers every employee who works in the city of Portland. That includes remote workers whose companies are based elsewhere, or workers who travel to Portland and spend a minimum of 240 hours (or six weeks) working in the city.

And while the law is based on time accrued – workers accrue one hour for every 30 hours they work – salaried employees are covered by the ordinance. Temporary workers are also covered, where those working for businesses with fewer than five employees are now protected from termination for taking paid sick time, but they do not have to be compensated. Employers are now required to provide notice to employees of the business policies and procedures regarding notification of use of sick time, and to keep a record of sick leave hours accrued and used by employees working in Portland.

In the month leading up to the ordinance going into effect, the city – in partnership with the state Bureau of Labor and Industries – held several trainings for employers about how to make sure they complied with the law, and Fritz said the city will continue to partner with BOLI to provide information about how to comply.

The ordinance leaves a few categories of workers out, notably independent contractors. According to the Small Business Administration, in 2010 there were 258,805 self-employed people without employees in the state of Oregon. While many independent contractors work in relatively solitary occupations – such as freelance graphic designers or programmers – some public-facing workers, including exotic dancers, are considered self-employed and won't be protected by the ordinance.

Davis said members of the public should be aware that while public spaces should be safer under the ordinance, paid sick leave – along with health reform – is likely to drive food prices up.

“It isn't the most expensive thing we do for our employees at all,” Davis said. “It pales in comparison with health insurance.”

 

TO LEARN MORE:

To download posters to print at your workplace or read the ordinance, visit http://www.portlandoregon.gov/sicktime, email [email protected] or call (503) 823-3994.

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