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Senate President Libby Mitchell has introduced a bill that would mandate businesses to provide paid sick days to employees.
The bill, "An Act to Aid in the Prevention of the Spread of H1N1 Influenza by Ensuring the Provision of Earned Paid Sick Time," would require businesses with fewer than 25 employees to provide 26 hours of paid sick time annually, or one hour for every 80 hours worked, according to the Bangor Daily News. Larger businesses would be required to provide 52 hours of sick time, accrued at one hour for every 40 hours worked. Employers already meeting these requirements would be exempt. At a press conference yesterday, Mitchell, D-Vassalboro, said the bill would help stem the spread of the H1N1 flu virus and other illnesses, as well as allow people to take paid time in response to mental illness and domestic violence.
But some business groups, including the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business/Maine, say the bill would hurt small businesses already struggling during the recession, according to the Kennebec Journal.
The bill, a revised version of legislation that died in the Maine House in 2008, is expected to go to the Labor Committee when the Legislature reconvenes in January. If the bill passes, Maine would become the first state in the country to mandate paid sick time, according to the Kennebec Journal.
This bill is very troublesome to small business. If we have to pay for sick time, then there needs to be certain criteria for which they should be paid, such as hospitalization. This can be very subjective. Employees will easily exploit this thus pushing small business away from this state once again. How many times have businesses had employees call in sick and question whether they actually were? If they have the sniffles then they will call in sick. Where is the common sense with our legislature these days! As an employer I will happily help my employee if they are having health issues but I don't want government involved in running my daily decisions in my business.
This is a feel good bill that borders on lunacy in the middle of a recession. The state legislature is wreaking further havoc on the Maine economy. Has anyone there ever created a job or been responsible for a payroll?
Ok. Senator Mitchell wants to have all employees be paid for sick time. Fair enough. The question is who pays the sick time. Currently, if an employee does not have sick time paid for by their employer then the employee pays for the sick time. Senator Mitchell would like to change that to make the employer pay for the sick time. Her reasoning seems to be that if the employer pays for the sick time, the employee will take it but if the employee pays for it they will not take it. Assuming that this is correct, making the employer pay for sick time will increase the amount of sick time taken and therefore the cost to employers. This makes Maine employers incrementally less competitive than non-Maine employers ultimately costing the employees of Maine companies jobs. The increased cost would remain long after the H1N1 Influenza is gone. I would rather pay for my own sick time and keep as many jobs in Maine as possible.
At Ethos and VONT, we have 25 employees and already provide paid sick time of 5 days per calendar year. We do it because we think it is the right thing to do. We also pay hourly employees for their unused sick time at the end of each calendar year, so as not to provide a negative incentive or benefit scenario for those who are not sick. The point I wish to make is that this is "voluntary" because we see it in our best interest. We also are offering our employees free flu shots - again, because we view this in our best interest.
The thought of sick time being mandated, however, rubs me the wrong way.