Is New York's mandatory paid sick leave law hurting businesses?

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published 21 September 2016

Nope.

In fact, mandatory paid sick leave appears to be faring well in New York City, by far the biggest of 26 U.S. cities to have passed such legislation. In a survey of New York businesses, 85 percent of employers said the 2013 law had had no effect on their business costs, 91 percent reported no reduction in hiring, and 94 percent said there had been no effect on business productivity. The study found most city businesses saw the policy passage as a "nonevent," Slate reports. Meanwhile, more than three in four employees reported having taken advantage of the benefit.

The findings notably match those of cities like San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., where paid sick leave has also made little splash as far as harming business. Plus, plenty of research has connected paid sick leave policies to happier workers, more productive offices, and even fewer flu outbreaks. So maybe letting workers stay home when they're sick isn't so bad after all?

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Kelly Gonsalves is a sex and culture writer exploring love, lust, identity, and feminism. Her work has appeared at Bustle, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and more, and she previously worked as an associate editor for The Week. She's obsessed with badass ladies doing badass things, wellness movements, and very bad rom-coms.