Paid sick leave for Philadelphia workers is on its way.A bill to mandate that Philly businesses provide employees paid sick days passed City Council this morning after a 14-2 vote. Mayor Michael Nutter will sign the bill at 2 p.m. today, he announced this afternoon.The Council last passed sick-leave bills in 2011 and 2013. Nutter vetoed those bills saying he was concerned they could dent a slow economic recovery.Nutter changed his mind last year after a panel he convened recommended in December companies provide paid sick leave."Mayor Nutter believes that the time for paid sick leave has come," his chief of staff, Everett Gillison, testified at a hearing on this bill earlier this month.Councilman Bill Greenlee sponsored the bill, which guarantees workers one hour of paid sick leave for every 40-hour week worked -- or approximately five days a year.Philly is the second city after Tacoma, Washington to pass a paid sick leave bill this year -- something President Barack Obama called for in his 2015 State of the Union address.“This is a good day for Philadelphians and for the effort to ensure that all workers in this country have this basic right,” Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families said in a statement.The bill will take effect in 90 days.
