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Paid Sick Days: Reaching Out to Businesses to Say YES to a Level Playing Field

This primer is intended to help advocates at the national, state, and local levels to identify, contact, and engage businesses to gain support for paid sick day‟s legislation. Several state and local campaigns have been conducting business outreach and this primer intends to build on their involvement and successes.

There is already widespread public support for paid sick days as a basic labor standard. More than three-quarters of workers polled view paid sick days as a basic right of employment that should be guaranteed by the government. (Paid Sick Days: A Basic Labor Standard for the 21st Century, National Opinion Research Center, August 2008).

As businesses that support paid sick days become more vocal, policymakers are better able to refute opponents‟ positions, such as the argument that the implementation of paid sick days is “unworkable” or a new labor standard is inappropriate. In addition, involving receptive businesses in the policy process can help ensure that if problems with specific aspects of the legislation are identified; those can be successfully addressed so as to minimize opposition.

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To view a three city comparison of this issue, click here.