Connecticut lawmakers at the state Capitol are once again considering legislation that would require some employers to provide paid sick leave to their workers, The Associated Press reports.
The General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday on a bill affecting employers with 50 or more employees. The time could also be used to take care of a sick child, parent or spouse.
This year’s version would allow workers, beginning Jan. 1, 2012, to accrue an hour of sick leave for each 40 hours they work. Proponents are hopeful it will pass because Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has voiced support for the concept.
The Connecticut Business and Industry Association says some employers will be forced to cover the extra cost by reducing benefits, cutting hours or eliminating jobs.
The hearing will come a day before a survey is expected to be published that shows businesses and employees in San Francisco were generally in support of the nation’s first paid sick days legislation, the Paid Sick Leave Ordinance (PSLO) enacted in San Francisco in 2007.
State Rep. Zeke Zalaski, D-Southington, is expected Monday to present the survey by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. In a press release Zalaski said the survey sheds light on how businesses and employees view the ordinance, four years since its implementation.
Seventeen percent of San Francisco’s workforce (59,000 employees) had worked in firms that offered no paid sick days, but are now covered. The survey of over 700 employers and nearly 1,200 employees found that two-thirds of employers support the law.
