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For Immediate Release

April 10, 2008

 

BUSINESSES URGE LEGISLATORS TO OPPOSE SICK LEAVE BILL

Would increase costs and make businesses less competitive

 

Connecticut businesses are urging state legislators to oppose SB-217 which mandates paid sick leave, because it would significantly increase business costs, make Connecticut companies less competitive, cause workplace disruptions and hurt our employees, not help them. The bill would hit small businesses and those that rely on part-time and seasonal help the hardest.

Connecticut 's business costs are already among the highest in the nation, and companies are struggling to remain competitive in the global marketplace. And according to Expansion Management magazine, which provides information to help companies make business location decisions, Connecticut's “legislative quotient” is dead last in its 50-state ranking for 2007. The “legislative quotient” examines the impact state legislatures have on the local business climate.

"This bill would require employers to provide paid sick leave to all hourly employees with indefinite carryover to future years, further increasing costs and seriously harming businesses in Connecticut as well as the state's economy,” said Bonnie Stewart, CBIA vice president of government affairs. “The bill targets smaller, service industry employers and seasonal companies — the ones that can least afford it.”

According to a recent Connecticut Business & Industry Association survey, the majority of employers (69 percent) offer paid sick leave to their employees. Stewart added that this bill is a one-size-fits-all approach that doesn't allow businesses the flexibility to deal with the needs of their employees.

Hundreds of businesspeople from across Connecticut submitted letters to their legislators asking them to reject SB-217. Here is a sampling of some of the letters.

  • Most small businesses I know (including ours) already provide a reasonable amount of sick time. If we don't take care of our employees, we'll lose them. I urge you to take a moment to consider the unintended consequences of this bill and please allow business owners to run their businesses. Dan Muse, president, Rainbow Press, Torrington

  • We are a payroll company and see many businesses throughout the state having a very difficult time with the economy. Passing this mandate would only make things worse! Lori Angelo, director, New England Payroll Services, Hamden

  • Our concern with this bill is the indefinite carryover of accrued time. This would pose a major burden for our manufacturing operation, which struggles to maintain a steady, reliable, qualified workforce. Cathy Cormier, HR manager, Tower Laboratories, Centerbrook

  • This mandate can cripple the type of service business we operate. Carryover of accrued sick leave from year to year could be devastating to the small business owner. We already take care of our employees at a level we can afford; this should be left up to the individual business owner. Sandra Woodhouse, operations manager, The Pawson Group, Branford

  • Our company now offers paid sick days and has a very good employee retention rate. If bills such as SB-217 were in effect years ago, in our early days, the expense might not have allowed us to be in existence today. And our company is good for our employees and for Connecticut 's economy. Please make it worthwhile to continue operating a business in Connecticut . Peter Hamilton, president, Sonic Systems Inc., Greenwich and Stratford

  • We care about our employees and want to keep and recruit good people. Most businesses like us offer generous sick time policies, but these are developed over time, based on market conditions, competition, work flow and more. Jennifer Hite, HR manager, Turbine Engine Component Technologies Co., Newington

  • This bill is onerous and unnecessary. Companies, mine included, have policies for sick leave if the business can afford this benefit. Peach Reid, president, Fish Mart Inc., Orange and West Haven

  • Escalating energy costs, travel costs and health insurance costs are only a few of the problems small businesses, like ours, are struggling with. The mandated sick pay policy is excessive and does nothing more than hurt the employer. Help small business stay in business in Connecticut . The state should not interfere with benefit packages employers create to attract employees! Annette Linster, CFO, Prime Publishers Inc., Woodbury 

  • You have to realize that if businesses are forced to invest in a mandatory sick leave policy, then they will just cut back investments somewhere else. Ultimately this impacts the same workers you are trying to help. If you wish to retain the strong manufacturing base of companies that make Connecticut unique, then please consider businesses' perspective when you consider laws that affect them. We are headed into a downturn, and profits are going to be hard to come by. We have faced major inflationary pressures for raw material, tooling, equipment and labor. Adding costs such as a mandatory paid sick leave is not how you grow the businesses of Connecticut. Scott Livingston, president and CEO, Horst Engineering, East Hartford

  • We are a small precision metal turning company that has been close to going under for several years, and we are trying to keep it afloat. The competition from shops in other states as close as New Hampshire is very tough. This type of legislation, I believe, will actually hurt employees in the end due to the failure or migration of companies from the state. I know we would not be able to survive this. Ron Weintraub, president, Curtis Products, Waterbury

  • This proposed legislation is far too costly. We are having a difficult time competing in the U.S. already. This will make it worse. We will be forced to cut jobs. Debra Wallis, CFO, Roto Frank of America Inc., Chester

  • At a time when all costs are spiraling out of control, we do not need additional mandates that will drive up product costs that will only be borne by the employees themselves in their everyday purchases. Daniel Straut, J&G Floortech LLC, Vernon and East Hartford

  • Making Connecticut businesses less competitive is not the right course. Margaret Sheahan, attorney, Pullman & Comely LLC, Redding

  • First and foremost, we disagree with any legislation which mandates what benefits we must extend to our employees. Our production labor force is unionized. Every benefit is negotiated at the bargaining table. We don't need the legislature to negotiate for and hand out free benefits which increase our cost structure. My suggestion is that the state search for ways to make the business climate friendlier in the state. James Neal, vice president, Treadwell Corp., Litchfield

  • Please don't allow this bill to pass. It, along with many of the other proposals that have been brought forth, will quickly kill small businesses in the state. Patrick Hayden, vice president, operations, Donham Craft Inc., Southbury and Naugatuck

  • Over the last five years my business has been seriously impacted by Chinese competition. I can't compete with their wages and this bill would put me at more of a disadvantage. Thomas Beausoleil, vice president, Lerocato Manufacturing Inc., Plainfield

  • We currently offer a competitive package of benefits to our employees. However, we do rely upon seasonal and part-time employees. Implementing an across-the-board mandate for sick time would negatively affect the productivity of these employees. Susan Bushnick, vice president, HR, American Eagle Federal Credit Union, Windsor Locks

  • Implementation of this bill would further the high financial burden small businesses have to bear for doing business and bringing jobs to this state. Since most companies who can afford to provide paid sick leave do so in order to attract and retain talent in this shrinking talent pool, companies that don't offer paid sick leave do so because they can't afford the benefit. Passing this mandate would, in all likelihood, cause companies to either close their doors or lay off workers. William Griffin, principal, BeneCom Associates, West Simsbury

The Judiciary Committee is expected to take up the bill tomorrow afternoon.

"The business community urges legislators to listen to their concerns and vote against this anti-business proposal. They should take actions to encourage job creation and reduce barriers to economic growth in Connecticut,” said Stewart.

CBIA is the state's largest business organization, with 10,000 members.

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For more information contact Nancy Andrews, CBIA media relations manager, at 860-244-1957 or andrewsn@cbia.com.

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