San Antonio City Council Passes Paid Sick Leave Ordinance

Workers in San Antonio will have access to paid sick leave after a City Council vote of 9-2.

City Council members who voted to pass the ordinance Aug. 16 said that workers shouldn’t have to choose between family and work.

“No one should have to ever choose between keeping their jobs or paying their bills and taking care of themselves or a sick child or relative,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. “Paid sick leave is good for businesses and working families and creates a healthy San Antonio overall.”

San Antonio is the second city in Texas to pass a paid sick leave mandate after an ordinance passed in Austin in February. Shortly after that measure passed, a coalition of Austin businesses and the state’s attorney general challenged it for violating a statewide minimum wage law.

The initial challenge was denied, but in July, Texas AG Ken Paxton warned the San Antonio City Council that a paid sick leave ordinance there also would be in violation.

The San Antonio paid sick leave ordinance will require all employers except government entities to provide employees with one hour of earned leave—to be used for an illness or to care for a sick family member—for every 34 hours worked. Employers will have to comply with the ordinance starting Aug. 1, 2019, unless they have fewer than five employees, in which case the compliance date is Aug. 1, 2021.

Council members went back and forth about whether the ordinance would encourage or restrict business growth in San Antonio. Business groups such as the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce expressed concerns that businesses—especially small businesses—will not be able to bear the costs or disruption caused by employees taking time off for illness.

Council members who voted against the ordinance criticized the lack of data available on the costs of the ordinance to both the city of San Antonio and the community.

“There are lots of reasons it would be great to have paid sick leave, but we don’t know what the impacts are for the city, for our citizens,” Councilman Clayton Perry said.

Nirenberg said he expected the state legislature to weigh in on paid sick leave mandates when it’s back in session. He also promised to form a commission to review the ordinance early next year with stakeholders from all sides to ensure the measure works for businesses and workers.