Whereas: More than 26 million people working in the private sector have no access to earned sick time, or “paid sick leave” (PSL), for short-term health needs and preventive care.1 Those most unlikely to have access to paid sick days include Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), part-time, immigrant, retail, and other service- industry workers. In fact, 48% of Latinx workers and 36% of Black workers report having no paid time away from work of any kind.2
As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, PSL is a crucial contributor to public health, allowing workers who have been exposed to illness to quarantine. 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 overall absence rates.3
For a major retailer like TJX focused on physical stores (versus ecommerce), a lack of PSL could pose significant reputational and economic risks as TJX competes for employees in a tight labor market and for customers seeking a safe shopping experience. In TJX’s November 2021 earnings call, CEO Ernie Herman declared “protecting the health and well-being of our associates and our customers remains a top priority as it has throughout the pandemic.” However, TJX does currently not have a publicly available PSL policy for its full-time or part-time employees.
Also, given that BIPOC workers are disproportionately affected by the lack of PSL, not offering employees a consistent and comprehensive PSL policy could pose reputational risks for TJX by conflicting with the company’s stated strong commitment to workplace inclusion and “policies and practices that reflect our philosophy of inclusion”4
TJX could benefit from all its employees having permanent access to PSL. The initial cost is relatively low to employers -- an average of 2.7 cents per hour of paid work.5 PSL increases productivity6 and reduces turnover, which in turn reduces costs associated with hiring.7 This is particularly important in today’s tight labor market and for lower-wage industries like retail where turnover is highest. Proactively establishing PSL for all employees would help prepare TJX for potential regulation. 37 jurisdictions, including 14 states, have adopted PSL laws since 2006.8
Adopting a comprehensive, permanent, and public PSL policy would help make the future operating environment more equitable and mitigate reputational, financial, and regulatory risk to TJX.