The Albany County legislature has proposed a mandate that employers provide paid sick leave.
The proposal would require employers to provide paid sick leave to employees who work more than 80 hours a year. Employers would have to provide one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked, with no more than 72 hours provided per year, according to the Albany Business Review. This proposal would affect both full-time and part-time workers for employers who have 10 or more employees.
Violation of the paid sick leave mandate could potentially result in penalties of $500 for the first violation, up to $1,000.
The proposal would also apply to certain businesses based outside of Albany County; businesses that have employees working in the county for more than 80 hours a year, such as IT services, would also have to comply.
According to Capital Region Chamber CEO Mark Eagan, those who will be most affected will be small businesses.
“These are businesses that already in the last few years have been impacted by the rising minimum wage, so how much pressure are you going to put on them?” Eagan is quoted as saying by the Albany Business Review. “We think it’s just not sound policy if you want to help small businesses succeed and make sure that Albany County can be competitive as a place to conduct business.”
This year, the state of New York began requiring businesses to offer paid family leave, which is paid for by collecting from workers’ paychecks, according to the Albany Business Review.
Inova LLC Director of Finance Sarah Bucey has signed the Capital Region Chamber’s petition against the proposal because it could be an expensive cost for her business that employs more than 50 people.
“It would be fairly costly for the company, and we are already offering sick time and paid time off and vacation time,” Bucey said.
According to the officials at Citizen Action of New York, Westchester County is also considering a paid sick leave bill, as stated in the Times Union.
“How much can one business take at one time?” Eagan said in reference to the possible paid sick leave mandate and the state’s increasing minimum wage in the Times Union.
