“Tonight, just a day after the D.C. City Council passed a bill to strengthen its paid sick days law, the Newark City Council voted X-X to establish a paid sick days standard for New Jersey’s largest city. This is great news for the 38,000 people in Newark who do not have paid sick days, and it paves the way for a much-needed statewide standard. Mayor Quintana should make signing the ordinance a priority.

This progress in Newark adds to the great momentum around paid sick days we have seen this year across the country and in New Jersey, where more than one million people cannot earn paid sick days. In October, Jersey City became the first city in the state with a paid sick days law. New York City and Portland, Ore., also passed paid sick days bill this year. Newark would be the seventh city and eighth jurisdiction in the nation to guarantee workers this basic right.*

Newark’s ordinance is comprehensive, ensuring that nearly all workers can earn the time they need to care for their health and their families without sacrificing their economic security. People who work in businesses with 10 or more employees and those who work in food service, child care and direct care would be able to earn up to five paid sick days a year. People who work in smaller businesses would be able to earn up to three paid sick days a year.

We commend members of the Newark City Council for passing this common sense measure, and the strong coalition of workers, businesses and advocates that has come together in support of it. We urge the mayor to recognize the positive impact a paid sick days standard would have on Newark’s working families, businesses, public health and the local economy by making signing the bill a top priority.”

* Paid sick days laws already exist in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Portland, Ore., New York City, Jersey City and the state of Connecticut.