HR: Milwaukee Sick Leave Mandate

On Friday, 6/12/09, a Milwaukee County Circuit Judge ruled that city's paid sick leave ordinance mandating private employers provide paid sick leave was "invalidly enacted and unconstitutional." In a 38-page decision, the Judge wrote "this is a case where the proposed ordinance's reach exceeds its grasp."

Comment: As clearly noted in press reports about this decision, it's not over -- but it also makes it clear that attempts to impose provide sick leave have to be more clearly in line with a number of other issues, including consistency with current federal laws. One of the bigger arguments that arose in this case is the issue of local, state, versus national legislation. My biggest concern, as is often true, is that what may seem like small victories for a group advocating expand leave are in fact not victories unless the issue is taken on at a national level. As noted in other postings on this specific issues, there are 1) clearly documented cases of businesses rejecting Milwaukee locations for expanded business opportunities because of this "mandate," and 2) I know directly of several organizations saying they would look at moving operations out of the city solely because of this mandate.