Dallas passes sick leave ordinance

Following Austin’s lead, the city of Dallas now has a paid sick leave ordinance that will fall under immediate threat by the Texas state Legislature. Dallas City Council approved the ordinance, which requires one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours of work, in a 10-4 vote on Wednesday, April 24. Businesses with fewer than 15 workers will have a cap of six paid sick days per year. Workers Defense Action Fund praised the legislation. “Dallas City Council has done the right thing and voted to provide paid sick time to working families so that no one in Dallas has to choose between taking a pay cut or losing a job, and staying home to care for themselves or a sick child,” said the group’s executive director, Jose Garza. Austin approved a similar ordinance in February 2018, but implementation is on hold by the courts, and both cities’ ordinances could be quashed by a handful of bills currently under consideration in the state Legislature. Both ordinances are also opposed by the Alliance for Securing and Strengthening the Economy in Texas, a pro-business group that released a statement Wednesday, saying, “Today’s action by the city of Dallas is proof that local employment ordinances are the biggest threat to Texas jobs and future prosperity for our state. Even as the Legislature is considering common-sense bills to streamline employment regulations, local bureaucrats are launching a power grab to force burdensome regulations on the job creators that fuel their communities.”