On May 17, 2017, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled that the City of Pittsburgh was without authority to enact the Paid Sick Days Act.
Background
The Paid Sick Days Act, enacted on August 3, 2015, was set to require employers to provide paid or unpaid sick time to their employees working within the geographical boundaries of the City of Pittsburgh. Employees would have accrued 1 hour of paid sick time for every 35 hours worked. Employers with 15 or more employees had to provide 40 hours of paid sick leave per year. Employers with fewer than 15 employees had to provide up to 24 hours of paid sick leave per year. All employees would have been entitled to use accrued sick time beginning on the 90th calendar year following the commencement of their employment.
Under the Act, employees would have been allowed to begin accruing sick time on the effective date of the Act or on the day they were hired, whichever was later. Additionally, employees would have been allowed to rollover earned sick days each year, unless the employer chose to front-load sick days at the start of each year. Employees had the option to use their sick time in smaller hourly increments or the smallest increment that the employer’s payroll system uses to account for absences or use of other time.
Court Case
In September 2015, the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association and other businesses challenged the Paid Sick Days Act. In the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, the appellees argued that the City of Pittsburgh did not have the authority to adopt the new Act that required employers to provide paid sick leave to employees. The Court decided to rule in their favor. The City of Pittsburgh and the Service Employees International Union Local 32 BJ appealed the decision to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court arguing that the trial court erred in concluding the City lacked authority to enact the Act. The Commonwealth Court took note that the city of Pittsburgh was a home rule municipality. Under state law:
No municipality which adopts a home rule charter shall at any time thereunder determine the duties, responsibilities or requirements placed upon businesses, occupations and employers, including the duty to withhold, remit or report taxes or penalties levied or imposed upon them or upon persons in their employment, except as expressly provided by the acts of the General Assembly which are applicable in every part of the Commonwealth or which are applicable to all municipalities or to a class or classes of municipalities.
Relying on the provision, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania concluded that the city of Pittsburgh lacked authority to adopt the Paid Sick Days Act. Therefore, the Act is no longer valid.