Missouri lawmakers, follow the voters’ will on Prop A sick leave protections | Opinion

Before trotting off to their legislative spring break, some members of the Missouri House felt it was important to thumb their noses at their constituents and voted to overturn Missouri’s Proposition A — something that more than 57% of us just passed last November. Their leader, Speaker Jon Patterson, felt compelled to pen a defense of this action in The Star. Perhaps that is because just three months ago he said, “I don’t favor delaying implementation.” Now he owes Missouri and his constituents who overwhelmingly approved Prop A an explanation for his change in perspective.

Proposition A was a simple solution to a simple problem. We know that everyone gets sick through no fault of their own. And while most professional employees have access to paid sick days, hundreds of thousands of Missouri’s essential workers — construction workers, retail, food preparation and service, nursing home aides and child care workers — do not. Prop A allows those workers, who are real drivers of our economy, an opportunity to earn paid sick time at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked, so they have the same opportunity to care for themselves or their families that their bosses have. In doing so, it keeps them, their workplaces and the broader public healthier and more productive.

More than 1.6 million Missourians — more than who voted to reelect Sen. Josh Hawley — voted for Prop A. It passed in 52 Democratic House districts and 54 Republican House districts, including Patterson’s. It passed in urban, suburban and rural counties across the state.

H.B. 567, passed by the Missouri House, is not a fix or a compromise. It is a complete repeal of the opportunity for workers to earn paid sick time to care for their families. It should more properly be called the “Making You Go to Work While Sick Act.” Speaker Patterson suggests it is the architects of Prop A to blame for this, but the reality was revealed in January, when the CEO of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry said repealing the paid sick leave mandate was the priority goal of that institution. Patterson has twice canceled meetings he set up with his constituents on this issue.

Olive Garden study results

What would the impact of repealing Proposition A be? We can look at the experience not of a liberal advocacy organization, but a business — specifically Olive Garden, which tracked what happened when its employees had access to paid sick leave. Perhaps not surprisingly, what the restaurant chain found was that if workers have access to paid sick leave, they are less likely to come to work while sick. Shouldn’t we want low wage employees, who often work in the food preparation and delivery industry, to stay home while sick?

Other industry studies, including from nursing homes, found that respiratory infection and gastrointestinal infection outbreaks were nearly 40% lower in nursing homes that offered paid sick leave to employees, increasing the safety of residents. H.B. 567 undermines workers, and thereby customer safety across Missouri.

We can also look at who supported Proposition A. More than 500 Missouri small businesses backed it. The Star interviewed and covered several of them including Jason Provo, owner of Blackhole Bakery in Kansas City, who said, “Employees are our greatest assets, and we are happy to invest in our staff with good wages and paid time off.” In testimony to the state Senate, Missouri Chamber CEO Kara Corches said she already has a more generous paid sick policy than what Prop A guarantees. That is great for her, but what about the rest of us?

Speaker Patterson’s biggest concern about Proposition A seems to be what happens if an employer “willfully violates” its provisions. We aren’t talking about a bookkeeping error— we are talking about an employer deliberately preventing workers from being able to use the rights they are entitled to. There is again a very simple solution here. Businesses should follow the law and we expect they will. In fact, none of the 18 states that have passed paid sick leave laws has seen any significant amount of litigation as a result.

What is important to know about paid sick days is that the opportunity for workers to earn them is approaching, and has been for nearly six months. On April 15, employers are required to inform employees of their rights, and they can do so via a notice provided by the Missouri Department of Labor. On May 1, workers will start earning time.

Protects employees from exploitation

For many employers, complying with Proposition A might only require a minor adjustment to a current paid time off policy, and for many others, it won’t require any adjustment at all. But what Proposition A does is provide a guardrail for Missouri workers, making sure those employers that might seek to exploit you are not given the opportunity to do so. Ironically, we just want what so many of the opponents already have.

Jobs with Justice has created a website moworkerrights.org where employees and employers can come and learn about the law, and how to comply with it. We will work with anyone who has questions about the law. Unfortunately our colleagues in the business community have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on litigation and bombastic lobbying efforts to overturn Prop A, rather than the simple solution of abiding by voters wishes and encouraging business compliance.

But it is never too late for them and all members of the Missouri legislature to decide to do the right thing and uphold Proposition A, and build a more just and prosperous Missouri.