Street Roots • January 30-February 5, 2015
SICK DAYS, from page 8
one set of rules,” Steiner Hayward says.
She says she hasn’t heard anything
directly from constituents about the current
paid sick days ordinances — negative or
positive — but Family Forward policy
director Lili Hoag says people in Portland
and Eugene who’ve had contact with her
organization have expressed a “real sense of
relief” at knowing they can take time off
work if they need to.
But since talk of a state bill began two
years ago (Steiner Hayward and Vega
Peterson introduced a bill in 2013 that died),
business associations have fought the effort.
They say the Portland and Eugene bills have
added additional expense and headaches for
their member businesses, creating
disproportionate problems for smaller
organizations.
Steve McCoid, president and CEO of the
Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association,
says he hasn’t had any calls regarding
problems or complaints about the Portland
or Eugene laws but doesn’t think they’re
popular with member businesses.
“You can make anything work if someone
forces you to do it,” McCoid told Street
Roots. “It doesn’t mean they like it. It
doesn’t mean it works well.”
In an office setting, if a worker calls in
sick, he or she may return to a backlog of
e-mail and work to do, but restaurant work
is much more time-sensitive, he said: “You
still need that server. You still need
someone to be there.”
Traditionally, service-industry businesses
have addressedthe short-term need by
allowing employees to trade shifts with each
other. He said now some businesses are
probably paying double, because they have
to cover wages for the absent employee and
News
they have to pay the one'who comes in to
work.
McCoid also said paid sick days may not
even be a high-priority issue for workers
themselves, citing a poll his organization
conducted a few years ago among members.
That survey asked business owners what
they thought their employees wanted most
from the workplace, and issues such as
higher wages and health insurance ranked
much higher on the list, he said. However,
he clarified it was an informal online poll
conducted through Surveymonkey, with
fewer than half of e-mail recipients
responding, and also said he wasn’t able to
provide Street Roots with specifics from the
survey.
Hoag said that nationally, workers with
protected sick time take just 2.5 days per
year, and the cost of having to cover pay for
absent workers is negligible compared to
the cost of high turnover, low productivity
due to illness or community outbreaks that
occur when workers come in sick and
handle food.
“I don’t want to impose undue burden on
people, but I also think people have to be
realistic about the fact that things change in
business all the time,” Steiner Hayward
said. “I want to limit them in reasonable
ways but I also want to make sure we’re
protecting workers. Frankly, I think it
cannot be good for restaurateurs if you have
an employee who comes in with some kind
of gastroenteritis.”
In addition to making sure the state
Continues to allow shift-trading, McCoid said
his organization would like to see exceptions
for part-time or Seasonal workers, since “
employees hired to work only a short
duration are unlikely to ever need time off.
“It’s just more paperwork for somebody
who’s still not going to be there by year’s
Page 9
end,” McCoid said.
“Oregon’s an awfully progressive state.
There’s a lot of things they think people
ought to have. When you say something like
this, they think big business. They think
they can afford it There’s an impact there
that’s much higher in relation to a
multimillion-dollar company. When they look
at this stuff, that’s what they think of. They
forget over 90 percent of the businesses in
Oregon are small businesses by definition,”
McCoid said, meaning they employ 50
people or fewer. “It’s not harming anybody
but your local neighborhood.”
Tracking the hours earned may provide
an additional expense, McCoid said, whether
done in-house or through a payroll service.
“Keeping track of it has been easy,
because it’s just the payroll company that
does it,” said Bryan Steelman, owner of Por
Que No, a Portland Mexican restaurant with
two locations and 60 employees. “I don’t
know anyone who does their own payroll. I
did my own payroll for six months and I was
like, ‘It’s going to get me in trouble.’”
Steelman supported the Portland
campaign for paid sick days after learning
about it through the Main Street Alliance,
another business association that leans
farther left than some of its counterpart
groups. Steelman also said he’s raising
employees’ starting wages to $15 an hour
and supports a minimum wage increase.
He declined to comment on the double
pay issue raised by ORLA, but said he feels
offering sick and safe time to workers has
increased the “confidence and pep” of his
CreW, and the morale boost was worth the
investment.
“I try to have a really awesome benefit
structure. We try not to have any turnover,”
Steelman said. “If people feel taken care of
and some security, and that they’re being
Waiting for you to Hear
Dignity
Poverty
by Ron Sanford
Why are you here? WJiere are you from?
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How? You ask first...how am I now?
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Mistakes from our wretched past
Don’t you use a piece of paper
Let the MRI tell the tale...
Words that can be twisted
You are alone and poor
You told the tale before
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So now you are ahead
With lawyer and doctor
It proved that you were right
And those lies you exposed
There’s nothing in the dark
That won’t come to light
And, no, I’m not gloating
Waiting for you to hear
acknowledged for what they do and
respected, it means so much. You cannot
put a value on what that means for your
business.”
Since the Portland law went into effect,
the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industry
has received 111 complaints about
employers not complying with the law. Most
employers have been warned, but four are
still under investigation, according to data
shared by BOLI spokesman Charlie Burr.
Erin, who asked that her first name only
be used for this story, has, been working for
the same small retailer in Portland.for more
than four years. Eight years ago she was
diagnosed with a chronic health condition
tljat made it difficult to come to work, and
frequently came to work sick, though she
often wasn’t happy with the quality of hey
work on the days when she had to push
through.
Erin told Street Roots that because she
lives “paycheck to paycheck” and has no
savings, during times when she absolutely
had to miss work due to illness, she
sometimes had to ask family or friends to,
help her cover her rent and expenses. .
“I’m blessed to have family that can help
me, It’s slightly shameful to have to ask your
mom to help you pay your rent because you
got sick and couldn’t work. I’ve had to ask
for help and I’ve always received it from my
family,” Erin said.
Since Portland’s ordinance went into
effect a year ago, Erin has taken only one
day, but said it’s been a massive relief to
know she can.
“Being sick is hard enough. To put the
pressure of having to go to work to make
your ends meet is harder. It’s just a blessing
to know if I need the time, I can take it.”
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