Hard to believe, but some states that have seen sick leave laws passed dictating that employers (those who actually create jobs!) provide additional benefits to employees are now taking a 2nd look at the question. Specifically, the Pennsylvania state senate is considering legislation that would preempt the city of Philadelphia from continuing to enforce its paid sick leave law that was put in place back in 2015. It goes without saying that the likelihood of such a preemption being enacted into law is slim, but it is encouraging that there are still those who respect small business enough to propose such actions. Elsewhere, it is a bit of a different story in Maryland, where Governor Larry Hogan has filed a sick leave mandate that has the general support of the business community over an opposing bill that legislators have filed. The Hogan bill would apply only to businesses with more than 50 employees and would sweeten the pot with an additional tax incentive for affected businesses. In a man bites dog type story, we were thrilled to read that the Governor of Vermont (yes, the same state responsible for Senator Bernie Sanders) has indicated he will veto a new family leave bill if it reaches his desk! Before we all get too excited, the legislation proposes a state-run family leave program that would provide up 12 weeks paid family leave and fund it through a 0.93 percent payroll tax and the republican Governor opposes any publicly funded program. Currently, three other states – California, New Jersey and Rhode Island – have state run family leave programs operating, with New York ready to join the group next year. We can still hope though, can’t we??
