Sick Days Bill Passes

This election day, one bill that passed in Montclair as well as Trenton will now give some workers access to paid sick days. Additionally, some reports are claiming that this past election has some of the lowest turnout rates in history.

According to a report by New Jersey Working Families, “eight N.J. cities have now passed local earned sick time laws in a little over a year, driving momentum for a statewide bill that will cover 1.2 million workers.” Additionally, the addition of the bills passing in this election will give an additional 20,000 New Jerseyans paid sick time.

This bill that passed is modeled after a similar law that passed in Newark this past summer, which will now allow private-sector workers to earn one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked.

The amount of sick time is determined by the size of the business. Businesses with 10 or more employees can earn up to five paid sick days, where businesses with nine or less employees can earn up to three paid sick days per year. Additionally, employees who are in frequent contact with the public through careers such as daycare workers can earn up to five days regardless of the size of the company.

Some organizations are hoping that the passing of this bill in multiple cities will eventually allow a statewide law. Some organizations involved in spreading the message of this bill are New Jersey Working Families, New Jersey Citizen Action, the New Jersey Time to Care Coalition and New Jersey Communities United.

Although many are glad this bill passed, New Jersey saw an extremely low voter turnout – according to NJ.com, the numbers are possibly the lowest the state has ever seen. “With 96 percent of districts reporting, 1,722,683 people across the state voted in the U.S. Senate race that topped the ticket, according to the preliminary figures from the Associated Press. That’s about 31 percent of New Jersey’s 5,492,702 registered voters.”

Even though the voting turnout was not as high as it has been in the past, Montclair workers can now look forward to earning paid sick days.