05/23/2008
As much of the nation is engrossed with the presidential race, small business owners in several states are finding themselves again faced with paid sick leave mandates threatening their businesses.
Paid sick leave mandates assume that small business owners do not provide flexible leave policies, which isn't true. While it's difficult for a small business to fill a gap when an employee is absent, according to a NFIB Small Business Poll, 96 percent of small business owners provide flexible working hours for employees when personal situations arise and 75 percent already voluntarily offer some form of paid sick leave to employees.
NFIB continues to oppose government mandates like paid sick leave across the states because they force small business owners to implement policies that may not be in the best interest of their company—or their employees. Below are some of the states currently dealing with paid sick leave mandate legislation.
Alaska
NFIB/Alaska successfully fought many attempts this session to legislate employment practices, including paid sick leave, employer-paid health insurance and mandated coverage for specific benefits.
California
Currently making its way through the legislature, AB 2716, the Healthy Families, Health Workplaces bill, would allow workers to earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours of paid work. Workers in smaller firms would be able to take up to 40 hours or five days of leave in each calendar year, and all other workers would be able to take up to 72 hours or nine days of leave per calendar year.
AB 2716 was approved by the Assembly Labor and Employment and Judiciary committees and is currently before the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Connecticut
On May 1, the Senate voted to create a paid sick leave mandate for businesses with more than 50 employees. NFIB/Connecticut State Director Andy Markowski released a statement in response to the vote, saying, "Today's vote in the state Senate to impose such a mandate on businesses with more than 50 employees speaks to how out-of-touch many legislators are with the difficulties facing thousands of small business owners across our state."
Illinois
House Bill 5320, the Healthy Workplace Act, would require all employers to provide seven days of paid sick leave for their employees to use for themselves, their children, parents or parents-in-law, or a person with whom the employee has resided in the same household for six months or longer. It would allow a full- or part-time employee to accumulate the paid sick leave at one hour per 30 hours worked, with a maximum of seven days earned per 12-month period. The bill currently is with the Rules Committee.
Maine
In April, the House voted 72-63 against LD 1454, "An Act to Care for Working Families," a paid sick leave bill that NFIB fought against. The Senate killed the proposal without debate, and the bill is now dead.
Massachusetts
Senate Bill 1073 is making its way to the Senate floor for debate. The legislation would require all businesses to provide seven days of paid sick leave annually, earned at the rate of one hour per every 30 hours worked. The leave could be used for employee illness or to care for a family member.
NFIB/Massachusetts is asking members to contact their lawmakers to let them know that small business opposes this legislation.
New Jersey
Earlier this month, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine signed into law a new paid family leave law. In response, NFIB/New Jersey State Director Laurie Ehlbeck released a statement noting NFIB's disappointment in the governor's ignoring of the state's small business owners. Unlike federal law, the New Jersey mandate does not exempt small businesses with fewer than 50 employees.
New York
Stopping the family paid leave mandate remains a top priority on the 2008 legislative agenda for NFIB/New York as Big Labor is pushing a plan to impose a 12-week paid leave mandate on almost every private employer in the state, regardless of size. Unlike the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which applies to businesses with more than 50 employees, New York's proposal does not exempt small businesses.
NFIB/New York members have showed their strong opposition to this legislation, with 92 percent of respondents to the most recent member ballot indicating they did not support it.
Ohio
The Healthy Families Act will most likely be heading to the ballot this November, as the legislature did not act on the proposal, meaning proponents must now simply collect signatures from the community.
NFIB/Ohio is vigorously fighting the proposal, which would apply to employers with 25 or more employees. It would require employers provide full-time employees seven paid sick days per year. While employees like the sound of the proposal, it poses significant problems for employers, who now must begin to consider the impact this proposal could have on their operations—financial and otherwise.
NFIB/Ohio urges members to contact your lawmakers and ask them to vote "No" on any mandates that come to a vote.
Pennsylvania
Within weeks of the passage of New Jersey's mandated sick leave law, Philadelphia City Councilman Darrell Clarke introduced a measure to require all businesses in the city to provide up to 72 hours of paid sick leave for all employees who work more than 56 hours in a year. The proposal would also require small businesses with fewer than 50 employees to offer four weeks of unpaid sick time. Similar legislation was also introduced in the state House: HB 1155 and HB 1386 require employers to provide paid sick leave to employees who work more than 52 hours in a year.
Washington
House Bill 3305 and Senate Bill 6280 would have implemented some of the recommendations of the Paid Family Leave Insurance Task Force, but are now dead for the 2008 session. NFIB/Washington will continue to watch for other paid sick leave bills that might crop up, and will be ready to oppose them as well.
How you can help
If your business is located in a state that is considering implementing a paid sick leave mandate, NFIB can help you fight back. Visit NFIB.com to learn more, including how to contact your lawmakers.
