“If you miss your court hearing, then you don’t get your protective order,” said [Marium] Durrani, who, before she joined the National Network to End Domestic Violence, was a lawyer representing victims of domestic violence in court. “Or you miss your job and your employer finds grounds to terminate you, and you probably don’t have resources to combat that. Beyond the physical and emotional implications of abuse, there are these long reaching ramifications.”

[The Pennsylvania Health Action Network] sees many people each year who, though insured, cite barriers to getting care, including difficulty getting paid time off from employers to see their doctors when they are ill. This is a public health crisis, and it’s one that is disproportionately affecting women, African American and Latino workers, all of whom are overrepresented among low-wage workers and among part-time workers.

[Trustee Muriel] Collison has previously said that since the board’s decision to opt out, the issue has been on her mind. A number of full-time workers in Northbrook told Collison that not only do they not receive paid sick days, but that if they miss work for more than three days in a year, for whatever reason, they would be fired, she said.

[Implementing the paid sick days ordinance] will be worth it for Austin workers, including financially independent students who work in Austin and stand to benefit from the ordinance.