Milwaukee Sick Leave Law Back On After Court Ruling

In November 2008 voters in Milwaukee, Wisc., approved a landmark paid sick leave initiative for employees working within the city. A subsequent legal challenge by a local business association got the measure ruled unconstitutional on technical law-writing grounds. Then, just a week ago the Wisconsin Court of Appeals reversed the original court decision, placing the law back on the books.

The case in question—Metro Milwaukee Association of Commerce v. City of Milwaukee—was decided on March 24, lifting a two-year moratorium issued by the initial court ruling.

Milwaukee thus joins the cities of San Francisco and Washington, D.C., as the only municipalities (or other government body) legislating paid sick leave in the United States.