Paid Sick Leave Policy

Resolution Text

WHEREAS: Nearly 28 million people working in the private sector in the U.S. have no access to earned sick time, or “paid sick leave” (PSL), for short-term health needs and preventive care.1 Working people in the United States face an impossible choice when they are sick: to stay home and risk their economic stability, or to go to work and risk their health and the public’s health.

The vast majority (62%) of the lowest earning 10% of American employees do not have access to PSL.2 48% of Latinx workers and 36% of Black workers report having no paid time away from work of any kind.3 

As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, PSL is a crucial contributor to improved public health outcomes, allowing workers exposed to illness to quarantine. One study found a 56% reduction in COVID-19 cases per state as a result of temporary federally mandated PSL,4 and others an 11-30% reduction in influenza-like illnesses from state and local mandates.5 State and local PSL mandates have been shown to reduce the rate at which employees report to work ill in low-wage industries where employers don’t tend to provide PSL, lowering disease and absence rates.6

PSL increases productivity7 and reduces turnover, which reduces hiring costs.8 This is important for lower-wage industries with high turnover. Companies across sectors, such Darden,9 Facebook,10 Home Depot, Levi’s,11 and Patagonia12 are expanding and disclosing their policies to benefit their employees and bolster their brands.13   

While Denny’s states “we offer a robust set of benefits and rewards that focus on…health and wellness, time-off benefits, and other perks that are designed to make our peoples’ experience as a Denny’s team member productive and fun,”14 there is no description or disclosure on paid sick leave. Further 96% of the total restaurants are franchised.

Increasing transparency of Denny’s paid sick leave policy would help the company demonstrate how it is implementing its commitment to “providing a productive, safe and fair work environment to every employee.”15 

RESOLVED: Shareholders of Denny’s ask the company to issue a report analyzing the provision of paid sick leave among franchise employees and assessing the feasibility of inducing or incentivizing franchisees to provide some amount of paid sick leave to all employees.

SUPPORTING STATEMENT: The report may include an assessment of potential avenues for the company to influence franchisees to take the requested action(s) on paid sick leave, such as financial incentives, franchise agreements, or other means.

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1 https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ebs2.pdf 

2 https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ebs2.pdf 

3 https://www.bls.gov/news.release/leave.t01.htm

4 https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00863

5 https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w26832/w26832.pdf

6 https://voxeu.org/article/pros-and-cons-sick-pay

7 https://voxeu.org/article/pros-and-cons-sick-pay

8 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5649342/

9 https://www.darden.com/careers/restaurant-careers

10 https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/07/facebook-parental-leave-bereavement-benefits/

11 https://hrexecutive.com/levis-to-offer-paid-sick-leave-to-part-time-workers/

12 https://www.patagonia.com/stories/family-business-weighing-the-business-case/story-32958.html

13 https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/07/facebook-parental-leave-bereavement-benefits/

14 https://s29.q4cdn.com/169433746/files/doc_financials/2021/ar/DENN-2021-Annual-Report.pdf

15 https://s29.q4cdn.com/169433746/files/doc_downloads/governance/BA296-Code-of-Conduct-Update-V15.pdf