Mandatory paid leave will likely once again surface next year after two identical bills were defeated in the legislative session that wrapped on April 13, 2015. SB40 and HB 385 would have required employers in Maryland to give paid time off to employees.
For every 30 hours worked, employers would be required to give employees one hour of paid leave. Small business owners find these mandates to be overbearing and opposes benefits already offered.
“I [already] give five days paid leave,” says Kurt Zanelotti, small business owner and president of Contract Carpet Systems in Beltsville, Maryland. “They were shooting for seven, so I would have had to come up with basically $20,000 to cover my 29 employees.”
The bills would have affected all employers with 10 or more employees. In Maryland, there are more than 536,000 small businesses, according to data from the Small Business Administration. The vast majority of these businesses had more than 10 employees in 2011, meaning hundreds of thousands of business owners could be impacted by paid leave mandates.
“I think telling a company how to spend their money with regard to sick or unpaid time is not the business of legislators. It’s my business,” says Debra Risher, small business owner and president of Belair Engineering. “I know what my company is capable of paying out to my employees, they do not.”
The bills provide little protection to employers, who would be required to keep all documentation for three years on earned paid leave, even if an employee leaves the business. Employers that do not comply would be charged a civil penalty up to $250.
SB 40 and HB 385 were defeated in 2015 thanks in part to lobbying efforts by NFIB. Only three states, California, New Jersey and Rhode Island, have established mandatory paid leave. However, several cities have adopted similar proposals and many more are considering paid leave legislation.
The bills also required that small businesses with nine or fewer employees provide unpaid leave for all employees who regularly work more than eight hours per week. Employees are already protected for unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Any mandate puts a burden on small business owners and doesn’t take into account what employers can already provide for their employees to take time off of work for family reasons or illness.
“…We have low turnover and a really good staff because I do provide benefits, one of them being paid leave,” says Zanelotti. “For the government to dictate to me how many days, it really sticks in my craw. …Where does it stop, and why should they be the ones to dictate?”
Mandates ignore these realities and could require small business owners to reduce vacation time and other job perks that they currently offer.
“I probably would have gotten rid of vacation days,” says Zanelotti. “I can’t raise my prices.”
NFIB needs your help to defeat this legislation next session. Members are encouraged to call their local legislators about this issue. If you would like to help, please contact your Maryland Member Support Manager, Miranda Bond at [email protected].
