42 percent of St. Paul workers lack sick time, report says
A new report shows 42 percent of working St. Paul residents lack access to paid sick time — a key benefit being debated by local government on both sides of the river.
The study from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found 72,000 workers from St. Paul do not earn paid hours off to cover illness. The report found large disparities by race, occupation and employment status, with blacks and Latinos, part-timers and low-wage service sector workers the least likely to have paid sick days.
The lack of sick benefits was especially evident among child care and food service workers.
“Since those workers earn less, they’re also less likely to be able to afford going a day without pay,” said study director Jessica Milli, in a conference call with reporters. “And that poses a public health risk.”
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman announced last week that the city is assembling a task force to study a possible earned sick and safe time mandate that would extend to public and private sector employers throughout the city.
The city’s full-time employees already earn sick time, and the benefit will be expanded by Jan. 1, 2017 to include 1,700 part-time, seasonal employees and Right Track summer interns, at an estimated annual cost of $100,000.
It includes paid time off for employees to look after a sick spouse and for victims of domestic violence or stalking.
Some hope that’s just the beginning. Several members of the St. Paul City Council and advocacy groups such as TakeAction Minnesota are eager to see the private sector offer similar benefits to part-time and low-wage workers, though details of how that mandate might come together are still months away.
The mayor hopes to have a recommendation before him by early summer.
“This is a concrete proposal that will make a real difference for workers in St. Paul … particularly workers of color,” said Javen Swanson, associate pastor Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Highland Park, who participated in the call organized by TakeAction.
Despite the positive intentions, critics have expressed concern about creating unreasonable demands on small businesses, overwhelming employers with unwieldy regulations that vary across city boundaries, and competing with efforts to raise the minimum wage.
In Minneapolis, earned sick and safe time had been included in a raft of city-led workplace proposals dubbed “the Working Families Agenda.” The Minneapolis City Council put the proposals on hold last year in the midst of heavy criticism from employers, who felt left out of discussions.
The analysis by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research examined data from two key government sources — the 2012–14 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the 2012-2014 American Community Survey (ACS).
The government surveys drew responses from St. Paul residents age 18 and over. In addition, results were adjusted to reflect workers who live elsewhere but hold jobs within St. Paul.
KEY FINDINGS
Among the study’s key findings, 83 percent of state and local government workers have access to paid sick time in St. Paul, compared with 54 percent of privately-employed workers.
In all, 68,315 private sector workers and 3,905 public sector workers lack the benefit.
Workers with direct access to children, medical patients and seniors were among those least likely to have sick time benefits. That includes those employed in food preparation, hospitality, restaurant service, child care, personal care and other service occupations.
The report notes: “Across the broad spectrum of occupations in St. Paul, access to paid sick time varies from a high of 81 percent for computer, engineering, and science occupations to only 34 percent for those employed in service occupations.”
It goes on to say: “Paid sick time is especially uncommon in jobs requiring frequent contact with the public, with important public health consequences.”
DISPARITIES BY RACE
About 56 percent of men and 60 percent of women have access to earned sick time, as do 63 percent of non-Latino whites.
For Asians, sick time access falls to 53 percent. Among blacks and Latinos, it’s 47 percent and 45 percent, respectively.
“There is a huge earned sick time access disparity between workers of color and white workers in St. Paul, and these workers are also the least able to afford being sick,” Milli said.
Workers employed at least 40 hours per week were the most likely to have access to the benefit (71 percent), in contrast to workers employed fewer than 35 hours (24 percent).
About half (53 percent) of full-time workers in the lowest earnings bracket — less than $35,000 annually — have access to paid sick time. More than 80 percent of workers in the highest earnings bracket — $65,000 or more annually — have access to paid sick time.
