Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald has vetoed a bill that would have required businesses to provide employees with five days of paid sick leave a year.
In a press release, the county said Fitzgerald objected to the way council approved the Paid Sick Days Act as well as a need to be sure the that law is followed to protect employees.
“This issue is too important to our community, and particularly to those workers who would have protection in the form of paid sick leave, for it to be done the wrong way,” the Fitzgerald letter reads. “It’s simply not fair to give employees in our county false hope that they’re protected when the process followed by Council jeopardizes that…. If we want to protect our residents, families, community and public health, we must do this in the right way to ensure that it withstands any legal challenge.”
Allegheny County Council passed the bill during their meeting on March 9.
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County Solicitor Andy Szefi shared the legal concerns with Council in a confidential memo and said the bill should have followed Local Health Administration Law.
While he vetoed this bill, Fitzgerald stated in his veto message that he supports a paid sick leave policy. He wrote:
"There are many reasons that such a policy makes sense. Quite simply, we don’t want people going to work who are contagious. Millions of people in this country, and thousands in our own community, do not have paid sick days to care for their own health. For many, particularly those earning the lowest wage, the decision to stay home or go to work when sick isn’t really a decision. In order to pay their bills, they must work – and so they go to work ill, including with contagious illnesses that threaten public health. When you look at how this impacts people of color, the statistics are more staggering. According to the National Paid Sick Days Coalition, more than half (54%) of Latinx workers do not earn a single paid day and 38% of Black workers have no access to paid sick days."
Fitzgerald has asked the County Health Department develop regulations that follow the LHAL.