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Portland City Council chambers rang out with both applause and jeers last week as Commissioner Amanda Fritz introduced an ordinance that would require employers in the city to provide paid sick time for their employees.

鈥淥ne hundred forty-five out of 196 countries in the world provide aid for sick time, so for those who ask me why now, my question is: Why has it taken us so long?鈥� Fritz said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important for employers to create a workplace where everyone is treated fairly.鈥�

Under the ordinance, businesses with six or more employees would be required to provide each one with one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, with a limit of 40 hours of sick leave per employee per year.

The ordinance also would set in place new regulations and record-keeping requirements 鈥� including sending employee hour forms to the city and educating employees about sick leave policies 鈥� that employers would have to meet.

Through an agreement with the state, the Bureau of Labor and Industries would enforce the policy. Employees would be able to file with BOLI any complaints about alleged violations.

Approximately 40 percent of workers in Portland do not get paid sick leave, which includes illness, doctor appointments and children illness, according to data presented by Fritz鈥檚 office. In the local construction industry, 68 percent of employees are not paid for sick days.

鈥淲hat is remarkable is those that are in most need of (paid sick leave) do not have it,鈥� Multnomah County Commissioner Deborah Kafoury said while speaking in favor of the ordinance at the hearing.

Supporters of the ordinance say it would benefit businesses economically by reducing worker turnover and leveling the playing field for employers that already choose to provide paid sick time.

鈥淥f course, business and trade associations are concerned about the potential policy impacts on their business, but they have historically significantly overestimated the cost of policies like this,鈥� said Mary King, a Portland State University labor economist. 鈥淥ne reason that businesses tend to overestimate 鈥� is they assume most people will take all the days they have available to them, and that鈥檚 not what happened.鈥�

Three other U.S. cities 鈥� Seattle, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. 鈥� have passed similar ordinances, as has the state of Connecticut.

Studies in Connecticut and San Francisco show that people tend to use about half of their available sick days, King said. Employers in Connecticut estimate that providing sick pay for employees penciled out to a 0.2 percent decrease in sales revenue.

Opponents of Fritz鈥檚 sick leave proposal aren鈥檛 convinced by the numbers, however. They say it鈥檚 being pushed forward for a vote too quickly, and that gray areas need to be addressed. The ordinance, for example, doesn鈥檛 address how the policy would apply to businesses that operate both in and outside of Portland.

Debbie Kitchin, who spoke at the hearing, thinks the policy needs to address the fact that some industries may have special situations that don鈥檛 fit a one-size-fits-all approach.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to need flexibility on this,鈥� said Kitchin, co-owner of InterWorks LLC, a commercial and residential remodeling and renovation company. 鈥淢any businesses pay different costs and have different competitive environments.鈥�

The bottom line, many opponents say, is that creating a sick-leave policy should be handled by the state Legislature rather than by the city.

鈥淎t a minimum, the city should wait to enact the requirements until after the Oregon Legislature has had an opportunity to consider the proposal,鈥� said Bernie Bottomly, vice president of government affairs for the Portland Business Alliance. 鈥淓nacting a city-only ordinance creates bureaucratic costs and creates burdens for firms inside the city and creates even more burdens for firms with locations inside and outside the city.鈥�

Kafoury, however, thinks a sick-leave policy for Portland workers needs to move forward sooner rather than later.

鈥淎s a former state legislator, I will tell you the state of Oregon does not always do things in the most expedient fashion,鈥� she said.

A second public hearing for the ordinance will be held on Feb. 27. Until then, a task force of city officials will meet three times to determine details of the standards. City Council will vote on it on March 6. If the ordinance were to pass, it would go into effect Jan. 1, 2014.