NFIB: Paid sick leave a 'perfect-world' idea that hurts small business

Date: February 10, 2016 Last Edit: February 18, 2016

Mandatory
Paid Leave Legislation, S799  was scheduled for a vote on Thursday, February 11, but was pulled at the last minute. Thank you to everyone who took action on this important issue. We do expect this legislation to receive a vote at some point this year, but it likely will not move until
leadership in the Assembly and Senate can agree on the same version of the bill. We will keep you informed of any upcoming progress or votes with an email alert.

Mandatory paid sick leave for every worker in New Jersey is another nice idea that many businesses cannot afford and will shrink the economy and cause jobs to vanish.

“If you’re running a small business on very small margins in a very slow economy, where are you supposed to get the money to cover this new expense,” asked NFIB/New Jersey State Director Laurie Ehlbeck.

Most employees in New Jersey already get paid sick leave. In fact, small businesses are eager to treat their workers generously and attract better talent by offering better pay and benefits. But the practical truth is that many small businesses can’t afford to provide the benefit.

“If an employee doesn’t show up for work the work still has to get done,” said Ehlbeck. “That means that small business must transfer other employees, pay someone else overtime or hire a temporary worker. In all three of those cases they’re essentially paying twice for the same labor.”

“This idea springs from good intentions but they just don’t consider the real-world economic consequences,” said Ehlbeck. “Small businesses will be affected and it will create another incentive to automate your workforce, lay off employees, limit hiring or simply give up on New Jersey as a place to do business.”

For more
information about NFIB, please visit www.NFIB.com/NJ
or follow @NFIB_NJ
on Twitter.

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