SAN ANTONIO – Leave it up to the state. That's the word from the North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce regarding a petition for mandatory paid sick time in San Antonio.
In April, Working Texans for Paid Sick Time began collecting petition signatures, with a request that all San Antonio companies be required to offer paid sick time.
The organization received a lot of support and collected 144,000 signatures.
Cristina Aldrete, CEO of the North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, said control over who gets benefits should not be decided at the local level.
"To mandate what a private business offers their employees as far as benefits and wages ... from our viewpoint ... shouldn't even be an issue at all, and it should be taken care of by the state or the federal government, just like your minimum wages," she said.
Aldrete believes a policy like this could affect the local economy.
"A lot of smaller businesses ... run really, really tight profit margins," she said.
In response, the Working Texans for Paid Sick Leave said in a statement Tuesday: "We already know that this policy works thanks to the 44 jurisdictions that have enacted earned sick time policies, and that their economies are thriving."
On Tuesday, KSAT obtained the ordinance being proposed. It says in part:
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An employee in San Antonio who works at least 80 hours per year could accrue sick leave. That does not include independent contractors or unpaid interns.
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Employees could accrue one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked.
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The yearly cap would be 64 hours, or eight workdays, for employees of medium or large companies, and 48 hours, or six workdays, for small companies
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The ordinance would go into effect Jan. 1 for some companies, depending on size. Smaller companies would have longer to adjust.
In early July, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent San Antonio city leaders a warning letter, urging them to reject the proposal, saying it goes against the Texas Minimum Wage Act.
"It's a tight labor market, so let a company decide what they do with their employees," Aldrete said, who agrees with Paxton.
Paxton has also sided with a business lobby group that is suing the city of Austin for adopting a paid sick time policy. On June 26, a Travis County district judge dismissed the challenge to Austin's policy, saying it did not violate state law.
It was a big win for policy advocates, including the Working Texans for Paid sick leave, which said: "Texas cities can require paid sick time, and a pre-emption argument was soundly rejected by a Travis County district judge when he denied the injunction sought by big business and corporate interests."
Still, the business group has the potential to appeal the judge's decision.
The San Antonio City Council has until Aug. 20 to vote on the issue or send it to the ballot for the public to decide.
At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Mayor Ron Nirenberg will hold a public hearing to hear input regarding a mandatory sick leave policy. The meeting is at City Council Chambers at 114 West Commerce St.
And Thursday, City Clerk Leticia Vacek is expected to announce whether enough valid petition signatures were submitted.