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After last session’s passage of a minimum wage increase to $9.50 an hour by 2016, labor union members are now calling on Minnesota lawmakers to pass requirements for sick time and predictable schedules.

The groups Working America, an affiliate organization of the AFL-CIO, and Take Action Minnesota jointly released a report today that shows just 35 percent of the state’s non-union service industry workers are getting paid sick days. It also highlights that a growing number of workers face work schedules that are “unsustainable and unpredictable”

Jim Parsons of Minneapolis said he quit a part-time retail job last year because he was on-always on call.

“They did call me regularly to ask me to add shifts or to come in right away if somebody failed to show up or to fill in for them,” Parsons said. “Sometimes managers would send sales people home early if traffic in the store was light. So there was definitely an element of just-in-time scheduling that we dealt with.”

An earned sick time measure couldn’t get through the DFL-controlled House last session. But Bree Halverson, state director of Working America, said they’ll try again next year when Republicans are in charge.

“Every legislator has someone in their district that needs earned sick days. So, I am hopeful that it will be a great conversation,” she said.

Halverson said the groups are also working directly with employers to try to get changes in employment policy.

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Tim Pugmire

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After last session’s passage of a minimum wage increase to $9.50 an hour by 2016, labor unions are now calling on Minnesota lawmakers to pass requirements for sick time and predictable schedules.

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