City Council Passes Paid Sick Leave Bill

The New York City Council voted 45-3 on Wednesday to pass a paid sick leave bill, requiring businesses with 20 or more workers to offer five sick days starting April 2014, The Wall Street Journal reports.   

The law will provide nearly one million workers with paid sick leave without fear or threat of losing their job and, beginning in October 2015, will extend to businesses with 15 or more workers. 

The bill’s passing comes after a long political battle with Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who had blocked a vote on the bill since 2010.   

But she said the current version provides a compromise whereby employers would not have to make a choice between paid sick and cutting jobs.    

"This is a bill that hits the right balance for workers but does it in a fair way for the establishments that employ workers,” said Quinn.