About 123,000 Minneapolis workers don't have access to paid sick leave, according to a new analysis from the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Women's Policy Research.
Study: 42 percent of Minneapolis workers don't have paid sick time
New analysis from sick-time advocates says poor workers are most in need of paid leave.
October 29, 2015 at 4:24PM
The report, released Thursday, says that number amounts to about 42 percent of Minneapolis residents ages 18 and older. It also notes that Hispanic workers are the least likely to have sick time, with 68 percent lacking access to paid leave. By contrast, 49 percent of black workers, 42 percent of Asian workers and 37 percent of white workers don't have paid sick time.
Workers with the lowest rate of access to paid leave are those in service occupations, construction and maintenance, the report said. Part-time workers were also unlikely to have sick leave, with only 25 percent of those working less than 35 hours per week receiving that time off.
By contrast, 70 percent of workers who put in 40 hours a week have sick leave.
"We found that some of the most economically vulnerable are the least likely to have paid sick days," said Jessica Milli, study director for the Institute for Women's Policy Research.
Milli said the breakdown of who does and doesn't receive sick leave is similar to what her group has found in the entire state of Minnesota and in other communities across the country.
The information was presented by TakeAction Minnesota, one of several groups that has recently been advocating for citywide paid sick leave and other workers' reforms proposed as part of Mayor Betsy Hodges' Working Families Agenda.
Last week, council members formally tabled the most controversial part of that plan, which would have required employers to schedule worker weeks in advance and pay employees additional wages for last-minute schedule changes. Council members also voted to form a new group to come up with a more specific sick-leave proposal.
The city's initial plan would require all employer to provide paid leave to workers at the rate of one hour earned for every 30 hours worked. Workers at businesses with more than 21 employees could earn up to 72 hours of leave each year, while those at smaller businesses could earn 40 hours.
The study's organizers said they intend to share the information with the council.
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