Pittsburgh council tweaking covid-related sick leave legislation before final vote

People who work in Pittsburgh and need to take time off because they test positive for covid-19 or are asked to quarantine would be given paid sick leave under legislation Pittsburgh City Council will consider for adoption next week.

Mayor Bill Peduto spearheaded the proposal, which was introduced last week to council. On Wednesday, council moved the bill forward to an adoption vote at next Tuesday’s city council meeting.

Before the vote, council will discuss the proposal with the city’s law department in a closed session before publicly hashing out any issues before it is approved, council members said Wednesday.

The legislation is sponsored by council President Theresa Kail-Smith with support from Peduto. Council is taking up the issue because similar benefits under the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act expire Dec. 31.

“Due to failed federal action, workers should not have to choose between their family’s health during a worldwide pandemic and their ability to pay their bills,” Peduto said last week. “In Pittsburgh, we’re used to stepping up when Washington fails, and will do so again to protect our people from covid-19.”

Council needs guidance from the city’s law department to make sure the legislation doesn’t jeopardize the law the city approved in 2015 to require most businesses in the city provide paid sick leave to employees, Councilman Corey O’Connor said.

The new measure, which amends that law, is intended to be used specifically for covid-19 cases. It will expire 30 days after the end of the city’s declared pandemic emergency.

The law that’s in place now was intended to protect workers who get sick or whose dependents are sickened in the course of normal life, Councilwoman Deb Gross said.

“These are not normal times,” Gross said.

The proposal was crafted so as not to subject the sick-leave ordinance from further court challenges, Peduto’s Chief of Staff Dan Gilman said.

Although it was adopted in 2015, the law was challenged in court and went into effect March 15, the day after the first covid case was reported in Allegheny County.

There was a “very intentional effort” to keep the provisions in the covid-leave proposal separate from the existing ordinance, Gilman said.

The goal is to provide what he described as a “lifeline” to people who work in the city and need to take time off because they are diagnosed with covid or required to quarantine because of it.

Once the federal protections expire Dec 31, people’s livelihoods will be at risk if they get covid or need to quarantine and something like the proposed ordinance isn’t in place, Gilman said.

If people aren’t offered paid covid-related leave, they also may be less willing to seek treatment or take time off if they become ill or need to quarantine, Gilman said.

After meeting with the city’s lawyers, council will discuss the legislation during a meeting at 6 p.m. Monday before it takes a final vote during the 10 a.m. Tuesday council meeting.

To view the legislation, click here. For information about how to livestream council meetings, click here.