Labor Committee Again Putting Jobs At Risk

02.05.2010
Issues & Policies

Despite an overwhelming state and national focus on keeping and growing jobs, some state legislators keep ignoring how their actions actually put jobs at risk. This week, the Labor Committee introduced several proposals–including changes to the workers’ compensation system and the return of a paid sick leave mandate–that will endanger jobs.

That’s a big concern, because Connecticut has already lost 95,000 jobs, economists believe that number will climb higher, and most people in Connecticut are still very concerned about holding onto a job or getting hired again.

Mandating paid sick leave is a much too costly policy, because the only way many employers can accommodate its unbudgeted cost is by reducing other employee benefits, wages–and in some cases, the jobs themselves. It’s also one of the biggest “Don’ts” of this year’s CBIA Government Affairs Agenda outlining what Connecticut businesses believe the legislature should and shouldn’t do to spark our economy.

 Thousands of businesses in the state last year opposed a similar proposal to mandate paid sick leave. The proposal died, but only at the end of the session. Bringing it back is yet another example of the sharp disconnect between some state lawmakers and the realities of today’s poor economy.

Other concepts in the Labor Committee apparently deal with several aspects of workers’ and unemployment compensation, eliminating credit reports as a basis for employment decisions, using payroll cards for wage payments to employees and implementing the recommendations of the Employee Misclassification Task Force.

CBIA will have more detail on these concepts as they become available. Ultimately, growing and creating jobs in Connecticut must be the top public policy priority for lawmakers. Controlling the costs of hiring and retaining a workforce in the state is a primary way to accomplish that.

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.