Heather Curtis, WMAL
WASHINGTON- Workers in Montgomery County will soon be able to take off when they’re sick without losing pay. Thursday Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett will sign the “Earned Sick and Safe Leave” bill into law giving everyone who works in the county paid sick days.
Employees will earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked with a maximum of seven days for full-time workers.
“This is a very important protection for workers. I am delighted that it passed the county council unanimously and that Mr. Leggett will be signing it,” said Council President George Leventhal.
Leventhal said letting workers stay home when they’re sick is in the best interest of public health. The law will allow people to take off when they are sick or when a family member is sick. His wife runs a daycare in their home, and Leventhal said parents without paid sick can’t always afford to stay home and take care of their sick children, so they drop them off at the daycare, exposing the other kids and workers to germs.
Some business owners have said the new law could negatively affect them. Leventhal believes paying employees for a maximum of seven sick days is manageable.
Montgomery County is the first in the state of Maryland to require employers to provide paid time off for their workers.
“Legislation has been introduced in the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis the last two years. I’m hoping that our acting in Montgomery County will show the legislators in Annapolis that it’s entirely feasible, businesses can manage very well, by treating their workers a little more fairly and not having workers show up to work sick,” Leventhal said.
Ultimately he would like to see Congress pass a nation-wide paid sick leave law, but he said he knows that is not likely.
Leggett will sign the bill at 12:30 Thursday at the Civic Building in Silver Spring. Leventhal and other council members will join him.\
Copyright 2015 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: Mark Jayson Aranda, via Wikimedia Commons)
