Milwaukee Press Club: Newsmaker Luncheon to focus on sick leave mandate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, please contact:

The Milwaukee Press Club

Joette Richards, (262) 894-2224

milwaukeepressclub@gmail.com

http://www.milwaukeepressclub.org

MILWAUKEE, WI – The City of Milwaukee’s new sick leave mandate will be the subject of the next Milwaukee Press Club Newsmaker Luncheon. The public is invited to attend the Newsmaker Luncheon, which will feature a discussion by Amy Stear, Wisconsin director of 9to5 National Association of Working Women, and Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce. The event will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 7, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Newsroom Pub in downtown Milwaukee at 137 E. Wells St.

9to5 is the advocacy group that gathered the signatures needed to place a referendum for the sick leave mandate on the Nov. 4 ballot. The mandate was approved by 68 percent of the voters.

The MMAC is mounting a legal challenge to the mandate, contending it would create an undue burden on employers and would make the city less competitive from an economic standpoint.

The mandate would require all employers located in the City of Milwaukee to provide their employees with a minimum amount of paid sick days. Employees would accrue paid sick leave at a rate of 1 hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of nine days per year for businesses employing more than 10 workers and five days per year for businesses of fewer than 10 employees.

During the Newsmaker Luncheon, Stear and Sheehy will field questions from a panel of local journalists and the public.

The Milwaukee Press Club’s Newsmaker Luncheon Series is sponsored by Journal Communications and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The Press Club presents the Newsmaker Luncheons monthly to shed light on issues of the day. The public is invited to attend the luncheons. The cost to attend is $15 for MPC members, $20 for non-members, $10 for students. Lunch is included. Pre-registration and advance payment is required and may be done online at http://www.milwaukeepressclub.org. Checks may be mailed to the MPC at PO Box 176, North Prairie, WI 53153-0176. Cancellations will be accepted up to 48 hours in advance for a full refund. Please contact Joette Richards at the Milwaukee Press Club at milwaukeepressclub@gmail.com with any questions; or to pay by credit card, call 262-894-2224.