A bill that would protect small business owners from a paid leave mandate in Alabama did not pass the 2015 Regular Legislative Session.
Alabama lawmakers considered a bill that would address the burdensome regulatory climate small businesses currently face by prohibiting mandatory paid leave regulations for employers.
Senate Bill 403 would have prohibited local governments to require private employers to provide paid leave and time off for employees. While the bill failed to pass this year, the bill will be reintroduced for the 2016 session beginning in February.
“Even though Alabama is a right-to-work state, [the bill] would give business owners an additional safety net that private employers are not mandated to provide specific leave by the government,” says Rosemary Elebash, NFIB/Alabama state director.
Several states have enacted laws that burden small business owners, who may or may not already provide their own benefits. Supporters of the bill understand that employers are the most capable to understand the needs of a workplace.
“Business owners know better than a government entity the needs of their employees,” Elebash says.
A 2012 study by NFIB revealed that paid sick leave enacted in Massachusetts could cost up to 16,000 jobs and have a lost output of $8.4 billion on the state’s economy by 2016. There are three main costs to business owners that negatively impact the economy and their businesses: compensation costs associated with paying more workers taking paid leave, lost production due to more workers taking leave and new paperwork and recordkeeping costs incurred by complying with a paid leave mandate, according to the study.
“Whatever days you’re taking an employee out of the workforce, that’s revenue a business owner can’t get back,” Elebash says.
“Business owners know what model works best for their business,” says Elebash. “A business can’t function when a government tells them how to run it.”
