Paid Sick Time: Soon To Be Mandated

I don't have a problem with paid sick time. Every place I have ever worked offered it, at least to full time workers. We offer it at our company even though we only have 13 employees. Most of my clients offer it as well. Research has shown that 80% of employers do so. So I am not about to argue against sick time, what I do not like is MANDATED BY THE GOVERNMENT SICK TIME. The House of Representatives has introduced the Healthy Families Act (H.R. 2460).

This new bill will mandate that all employers with 15 or more employees be required to accrue one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked up to 56 hours, or 7 days. This is generally more sick time than most small companies allot, which in my experience is 5 days. So an additional cost to employers. Workers would begin accruing the time immediately and could take it as soon as their 60th day of employment. They can take this time for the following reasons:

• Their own physical or mental illness, injury or medical condition.


• To obtain medical care, including preventive care.


• To care for, or help obtain medical care for, a child, parent, spouse or "any other individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with the employee is equivalent of a family relationship.


• Absences related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, including time needed to get counseling, relocation assistance or pursuing legal action.

So in one fell swoop we have a mini-FMLA, domestic partner, violence against women law all wrapped up in one neat little package that at this time stands a very good chance of passage, at least in the House. After all who is going to argue against this? President Obama has expressed his support for the bill.

Again I am not against sick time. But not all companies can afford this mandate. People have a choice of working or not working for an employer who does not offer sick time or benefits. If you are an employee who needs benefits find an employer who offers them. Rather than forcing employers to offer this I would prefer an incentive approach as opposed to a mandated approach. Reward employers for offering better benefit packages with tax incentives rather than forcing a mandate down everyone's collective throats.

BTW, this will mean more work for the HR administrators, timekeepers, recordkeepers out there. This will have to be coordinated with all the existing laws and benefit coverages already in existance, such as FMLA. You will have to track this separately.

One last note. I believe this will also cover your part-time workers. The threshold is hours worked, not fulltime status. So as a part-timer works they will also accrue sick time.

Mandated Paid Sick Time: A New Angle

An article in the Kiplinger Online Newsletter asked the question "Is Paid Sick Leave Coming to Your State?" The opening paragraph states the traditional arguments for and against mandated paid sick leave. "Efforts are growing across the country to require employers to provide paid sick leave for their workers. Advocates say it is both unfair to employees and a public health hazard to make them decide between staying at home without pay or going to work ill. The business community says such a mandate could put many companies out of business or that workers will see pay and/or other benefits shrink."

The article further states that 10 state legislatures are considering legislation that will require employers to provide paid sick time to employees. And they see this as being a growing trend. (And depending on the outcome of the Presidential election it may be seen on a national basis as well.)

It was an ending paragraph that really caught my eye about this article. "Growing interest in paid sick leave does not just reflect concern over workers, but the threat to coworkers and the public. "In fact, the industries with the most employees who lack paid sick days are those with the greatest exposure to the public: hotels and food services, home health care and child care," Stateline.org quotes one advocate as saying." So mandated paid sick leave for the good of the PUBLIC and other employees.

This is an interesting take and certainly one that requires some consideration. As our businesses require more and more "intellectual capital" and hence our economy requires more and more reliance on "intellectual capital" does it make sense to protect that capital by not exposing it to diseases that come from people to people contact? HR articles are already calling for companies to encourage sick employees to stay home and not infect other employees. How much of a step is it to mandate that we protect our resources (the human kind) from exposure to productivity reducing illnesses. I am not necessarily talking about the common cold here, but major strains of flu can have a very detrimental effect. I know of one team that worked closely together ending up with almost everyone on the team being very sick at the same time. What would have happened if that had been a life-threatening illness, such as avian flu? An entire functioning unit wiped out?

Now I am not a big advocate of mandated sick time, or mandated anything, but changes in today's world politically, in the nature of disease, and in the nature of human contact may force us to rethink how we handle situations in the workplace such as paid sick time.

Tell me what you think.