Paid Sick Leave Mandate in State Senate

'Say no to job-killing legislation' – Hartford Courant

After a narrow vote in the legislature’s Appropriations Committee this week, a bill that would make Connecticut the first state in the nation to mandate paid sick leave (Senate Bill 913) is now before the state Senate.

The close vote shows the doubts and uncertainty many lawmakers have over this mandate.  They should be concerned.

Hundreds of employers have urged legislators to reject mandating paid sick leave because it will add costs, increase administrative burdens, reduce other benefits and very possibly kill the jobs we want to grow and protect.    

With Connecticut still far short of a full recovery after the last recession, and with a high, 9.1% unemployment rate—higher than the national rate–the legislature must back away from any anti-jobs proposals.

SB 913 requires employers of 50 or more hourly and nonexempt workers to provide a minimum of one hour paid sick leave for every 40 hours an employee works. Advocates want to push the mandate to even smaller businesses.

Many employers have already told lawmakers that if mandatory paid sick leave becomes law, they will be forced to offset the additional costs by reducing wages, benefits or even job themselves in order to remain profitable or stay afloat.

Bad idea, bad time

In the past week, Connecticut’s news media has joined the chorus cautioning against mandatory paid sick leave.

It’s a bad idea, says The Hartford Courant: “On top of higher taxes and everything else that makes Connecticut a hard place to do business, Democratic lawmakers at the state Capitol have introduced legislation to make it even harder.”

Obviously this is “the wrong time to add a significant mandate for businesses, one that no other state requires,” echoes the New London Day.

“If [this bill] impacts just one business, that’s one business too many,” adds the Torrington Register-Citizen, adding that if the Senate passes this measure, it “will send a message quite the opposite of ‘open for business.’“

Concludes the Courant:  “State lawmakers “should just say no to … [this] jobs-killing legislation.”

CBIA thanks those members of the Appropriations Committee who voted against SB 913.  Alarmingly, there are legislators who believe it will have no impact on jobs or the economy—a very troubling point of view.