Hundreds of small businesses in California say they can’t afford to offer paid sick days to employees, but Assemblywoman Fiona Ma believes businesses actually could save money by doing so, the Sacramento Bee reports.
The San Francisco Democrat’s Assembly Bill 2716 would let workers earn paid sick days that could be used to recover from illness, care for a sick relative or recover from domestic violence or sexual assault.
Small businesses and groups representing them vigorously oppose the bill, calling it another example of government trying to impose a financial burden on businesses already struggling to survive in a shaky economy.
The California Chamber of Commerce said the proposal would “unreasonably expand employers’ costs and liability.” Those cost increases could result in lower wages, reduced health insurance availability and reductions in worker-training programs, the chamber said.
Bill Reed, owner of Reed’s Ribs and More in Sacramento, said he’s sympathetic to workers getting ill, “but there’s really nobody you can pick up to fill in. And you would have to pay that person to fill in. I only have three employees.
“And on top of that, I have workers’ compensation (to pay), so, yeah, it would be tough.”
To counter such arguments, Ma cited a new study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research in Washington, D.C. It contends that universal access to sick days would actually create cost savings.
