Comprehensive Data on Two Years of Earned Sick Leave Laws in the 75 Largest U.S. Cities
New comprehensive data reveals the evolution of earned sick leave laws across the 75 largest US cities, highlighting progress and challenges in public health policy for worker protections.
Recent data collection and analysis have provided detailed insights into earned sick leave laws across the 75 largest U.S. cities as of June 1, 2024. This longitudinal information, available on LawAtlas.org, offers a comprehensive view of how these policies have evolved from July 1, 2022, to June 1, 2024. Developed through a partnership between CityHealth, the de Beaumont Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, and the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University Beasley School of Law, the dataset assesses crucial components of sick leave laws that impact public health.
Since 2016, CityHealth has collaborated with various partners to promote evidence-based policies aimed at improving community health and well-being. The research specifically examines nine policy solutions annually, including earned sick leave, by evaluating laws at city, county, and state levels. Elizabeth Platt of the Center for Public Health Law Research highlights the value of this longitudinal data in understanding the effectiveness and implementation of these policies, providing a resource for researchers, policymakers, and advocates.
Earned sick leave is a matter of fairness and health equity, ensuring workers can recover without fearing income loss. The data reveal that, by June 2024, 36 cities had enacted earned sick leave laws, while 37 cities faced preemption by state law, up from 33 in 2022. Preemption limits local governments’ ability to establish such policies, reflecting a trend toward state-level control.
The dataset is detailed, capturing law components beneficial to public health, such as eligibility for family care, domestic violence recovery, minimum leave accrual, and coverage of small businesses. This detailed information is critical for identifying areas where progress is being made and where further efforts are needed to support vulnerable populations.
More than just a law registry, this data helps track community health impacts, identify legal trends, and support efforts to expand access to earned sick leave for all workers, especially marginalized groups. These findings underscore the importance of policy-making rooted in evidence to advance health equity and community well-being.
Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-09-capture-years-sick-laws-largest.html
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