Jobs a Priority for Everyone—Except the Labor Committee

02.11.2010
Issues & Policies

Only days after both Democratic and Republican leaders declared that their top priority for 2010 is legislation to promote job growth and creation, the message apparently has fallen on deaf ears on the majority in the Labor Committee.

At its first meeting, the chairs of the committee introduced a slate of costly and burdensome job-killing proposals that favor special interest groups at the expense of helping businesses create jobs and put people back to work.  

Among the major proposals introduced is a mandate for employers to provide paid sick leave — a perennial issue that has failed to be enacted for the past three years.

Also introduced was a measure to increase the costs of workers’ compensation claims for employers, a proposal to increase the costs and administrative burdens of payroll processing, and various other proposals that micro-manage employers’ personnel decisions and flexibility in fully assessing job candidates; plus and other burdensome new laws and regulations.   

The mandated paid sick leave proposal (SB-63) is a costly repeat–not only in actual costs, but also how the bill’s reappearance hurts prospects for job growth. Companies with 50 or more employees would be required to provide one hour of paid sick leave for each 40 hours worked—with carryover of up to 40 unused accrued hours of paid sick leave to the next calendar year.  

It’s a one-size-fits-all policy that ignores the many different types of workplaces and industries found in Connecticut, those companies’ financial health, and their business demands.    

Many employers would be able to accommodate this additional unbudgeted mandate only by cutting back on other employee benefits, wages, and in some cases jobs themselves.  

Other harmful proposals include the following:

Credit checks: HB-5061 prevents employers from making well-informed personnel decisions by blocking them from considering an employee’s credit report unless it’s “substantially related to the job or position.”

Workers’ comp: SB-61 increases costs by preventing employers from ensuring that only necessary and appropriate medical care is given to injured employees in workers’ compensation cases.

Payroll cards: SB-94 restricts employers’ flexibility and increases their costs by allowing employees to reject use of an automated payroll and demand paper checks instead.   

Many other Labor Committee proposals threaten to further increase employers’ costs and undermine their ability to hire or retain workers.

For more information, contact CBIA’s Kia Murrell at 860.244.1931 or kia.murrell@cbia.com.

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CBIA IS FIGHTING TO MAKE CONNECTICUT A TOP STATE FOR BUSINESS, JOBS, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH. A BETTER BUSINESS CLIMATE MEANS A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR EVERYONE.