ANNAPOLIS (March 1, 2017): In response to amendments offered to House Bill 1 today on mandatory paid leave in Maryland, the following statement may be attributed to National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Maryland State Director, Mike O’Halloran:
Today legislators were presented with the opportunity to vote in favor of a number of amendments that would have gone a long way in helping small business owners shoulder the cost of mandating paid leave. Unfortunately, many of them chose not to support the most vulnerable of businesses in our state.
There’s a large misunderstanding on behalf of many legislators as to what it takes to operate a business on a day to day basis particularly those legislators referring to unpaid leave as an innocuous mandate. To be clear, whether it is paid or unpaid, mandating the day to day operation of a small business comes at a cost for our businesses.
House Bill 1, which is wholly unworkable for the small business community, will force employers to make very difficult choices that may result in a reduction of existing benefits, fewer work hours, or in the worst scenario, elimination of jobs.
