CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to employment in Seattle; amending Sections 14.16.010 and 14.16.030 of the Seattle Municipal Code to strengthen and clarify labor standards requirements for paid sick and paid safe time for employees working in Seattle; declaring an emergency; and establishing an immediate effective date; all by a 3/4 vote of the City Council.
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WHEREAS, in September 2011, The City of Seattle ("City") became the fifth jurisdiction in the country to pass legislation requiring employers to provide employees with paid leave to care for their personal and family members' medical and critical safety needs, and the Paid Sick and Safe Time Ordinance, Seattle Municipal Code (SMC) Chapter 14.16, went into effect for many employees working in Seattle on September 1, 2012; and
WHEREAS, in December 2015, the City passed amendments to the Paid Sick and Safe Time Ordinance to prescribe additional remedies and enforcement procedures, and the legislation went into effect on January 16, 2016; and
WHEREAS, in November 2016, the people of Washington passed Initiative Measure No. 1433, amending chapter 49.46 RCW to require employers to provide employees with paid leave to care for their personal and family members' medical conditions and critical safety needs, and the legislation went into effect for many employees working in Washington state on January 1, 2018; and
WHEREAS, in December 2017, the City passed amendments to the Paid Sick and Safe Time Ordinance to expand requirements to align with Initiative Measure No. 1433, and the legislation went into effect for all employees working in Seattle on January 10, 2018; and
WHEREAS, in August 2016, researchers Stefan Pichler and Nicolas Robert Ziebarth issued a report, "The Pros and Cons of Sick Pay Schemes: Testing for Contagious Presenteeism and Noncontagious Absenteeism Behavior,"1 concluding that mandatory paid sick leave policies in U.S. ...
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