“In a major victory for D.C. workers, the public health and the local economy, Mayor Gray has signed the Earned Sick and Safe Leave Amendment Act passed unanimously by the City Council last month. The law will ensure that an additional 20,000 tipped restaurant and bar workers can earn the paid sick days they need. The District will be stronger and healthier as a result.

This new law realizes the full promise of paid sick days by expanding the District’s 2008 law to cover a segment of the workforce that is critical to our local economy and the health of our communities. It will also allow all workers to accrue paid sick days immediately and begin using them after 90 days on the job, eliminating the requirement that they be at a job for one year and 1,000 hours. The District is the first jurisdiction in the nation to strengthen existing legislation to make paid sick days available to all workers.

We commend the Paid Sick Days for All coalition and the D.C. City Council for making this victory possible. And we thank Mayor Gray for signing the bill into law. We hope the mayor will continue to show his commitment to District workers and families by ensuring that the minimum wage increase approved by the Council becomes law as well.”