NFIB State Director says hospitals are among the
biggest and most profitable employers in the state and that not every small
business can offer expensive benefits
Boston (September
22, 2014) – The National Federation of Independent Business
(NFIB), whose typical small business member has fewer than 10 employees, reacted
today to an announcement that some of the largest and most profitable hospitals
in the state are backing mandatory paid sick leave.
“We would ask
the hospital CEOs, whose annual salaries in many cases are bigger than the
annual sales for our members, to consider whether every business of every size
can afford the kind of benefits that they offer to their employees,” said NFIB State Director Bill Vernon. “Paid sick leave would be another inescapable
cost added to the wages, taxes and other benefits that small businesses already
pay their workers.
“When the
cost per worker exceeds the sales per worker, then employers will have to make
cuts and no one wins,” he continued.
Vernon
pointed out that hospitals operate under a unique financial model that most
small business owners would envy, and that the CEOs should have considered the
differences before they backed a one-size-fits-all measure like mandatory paid
sick leave.
“The demand
for emergency medical care is pretty inelastic and most of the payments are
paid by third parties and taxpayers,” said Vernon. “Small business customers are a lot more
price sensitive and they have the ultimate power to walk away and go somewhere
else. The hospitals have a pretty captive
market. They should run their businesses
their way, and they should understand that many other types of businesses must
be run differently.”
To learn more about NFIB
please visit www.nfib.com.
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