Philadelphia workers have answered the call to keep Philadelphia running during the COVID-19 pandemic. We now call on City Council and Mayor Kenney to protect the health and wellbeing of the city workforce by providing them with public health emergency paid sick leave.

While federal legislation has created some emergency sick time provisions for workers, it excludes many employees. In Pennsylvania, more than 3 million workers could be left out as a result of the law’s exemptions. That is why we are calling on City Council to support the Public Health Emergency Leave legislation, City Council Bill No. 200303, introduced on May 1, 2020 by Councilmember Kendra Brooks.

The Public Health Emergency Leave Bill would:

• Cover all workers during a declared public health emergency who continue to physically report to work, including gig economy workers and undocumented workers.

• Provide immediate access to 14 days of paid sick time.

• Provide full pay for workers who need to stay home to care for a sick loved one.

Essential workers are across the board some of the lowest paid in our economy, despite being put at the highest risk of contracting COVID-19. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, a quarter of Pennsylvania’s essential workers make less than $30,000 a year, and two-thirds make less than PA's household median income of $60,000. Furthermore, women of color make up the highest portion of essential workers.

These brave Philadelphians continue to risk their lives every day to keep Philadelphia runningand to save the lives of our residents. Providing ample paid sick leave is the least that we can do for them. In the absence of accessible paid sick leave, workers are forced to put themselves and the general public at risk by continuing to come into work even if they are sick. Workers should never have to choose between endangering the public for a paycheck or staying home and losing wages they need to feed their families.