It is necessary for the City Council to exercise its legislative power to protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare of those individuals working within the City of Bloomington. The City Council finds:
(a) Healthy individuals, families, and communities are the foundation of well-functioning societies. Many factors contribute to health, including the policies and systems that shape our lives. Among these policies, the availability of
is a key contributor, as it creates the opportunity for
both to earn a living and to provide care for their loved ones;
(b) Forty-one percent of employed Minnesota residents lack access to earned
. The same
that are least likely to have
or the financial ability to forego wages are in occupations most likely to have contact with the public, especially food services, long-term care, and health care. Minnesota workers who work in public-contact occupations, such as service occupations, are less likely to have
than workers in other occupations. Bloomington's largest employment industries include health care, education, retail, manufacturing, lodging, and food services. A recent Bloomington
survey found 48% of
did not offer
to their
;
(c) Family economic security is at risk for workers who lack adequate
because workers who lack
lose earnings if they miss work to care for themselves, their children, or other
who are ill or injured.
in the
working in low-wage occupations are least likely to have access to
and are the least able to forego wages to take time off to recover or care for others who may be sick.
without earned
disproportionately experience poverty, unstable housing and hunger;
(d) Access to
and the ability to take
are not available equally across populations of different incomes or race/ethnicity. Structural racism is a factor not only in health disparities but also in the conditions that create health, such as
policies. The
continues to increase in diversity of both residents and those who work in the
. People of color are more likely than white people in Bloomington to be in low-paying, frontline jobs with less security and benefits or to work multiple jobs;
(e) When individuals have no
or an inadequate amount of
available to them, they are more likely to come to work when they or their
are sick. Absent the proper care needed for treatment or recovery, the ill worker's or ill family member's health problems may intensify or be prolonged;
(f) Individuals who come to work when they are sick are likely to expose other
, customers, and members of the public to infectious diseases, such as the flu or coronaviruses like SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. Individuals with no
, or an inadequate amount of time to take off to care for a sick child, are likely to send sick children to school or a childcare center, thereby potentially spreading contagious illnesses. The lack of access to
has public health implications and has contributed to contagious disease outbreaks in Bloomington;
(g) Victims of
,
, and
that have no
are less able to receive medical treatment, participate in legal proceedings, and obtain other necessary services. In addition, without
,
victims are less able to maintain the financial independence necessary to leave abusive situations, achieve safety, and minimize physical and emotional injuries;
(h)
will promote the safety, health, and welfare of the people of Bloomington by reducing the chances that worker's illnesses will intensify or be prolonged, by reducing the exposure of co-workers and members of the public to infectious diseases, and by reducing the exposure of children at schools and day cares to infectious diseases; resulting in a healthier and more productive workforce, better health for older
and children, enhanced public health, and improved family economic security;
(i)
will enable victims of
,
, and
, and their
to participate in legal proceedings, receive medical treatment, or obtain other necessary services and, thus, to maintain the financial independence necessary to leave abusive situations, achieve safety, and minimize physical and emotional injuries;
(j) Over the last few decades, the demographics of the nation's workforce and the structures of the nation's families have undergone significant changes; 80% of children are raised in households that are headed by either a working single parent or two working parents. As a result of these changes, the demands placed on workers with family responsibilities are greater and more complex today than they were in an earlier era;
(k) To safeguard the public welfare, health, safety, and prosperity of the
, all persons working in our community should have access to adequate
, because doing so will ensure a more stable workforce in our community, thereby benefitting workers, their families,
, and the community as a whole.