Voters resoundingly backed paid sick leave. Now lawmakers in 3 states want to roll back the benefits

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Voters in Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska were asked last year whether they wanted to require employers to provide paid sick leave to their workers. They overwhelmingly said yes.

Now some lawmakers in each of those states are trying to roll back the benefits, citing concerns from businesses about costs.

The efforts mark the latest attempt by legislators to alter laws backed by the voters they represent. In February, for example, Michigan enacted revisions to a paid sick leave law initiated by voters seven years ago, delaying the date when small businesses must comply and allowing a longer period before new employees are eligible.

Though some voters are outraged, some lawmakers contend that citizen activists who crafted the initiatives overlooked the realities of running a business.

Restaurant owner Tim Hart, who employs about two dozen workers at his steakhouse in Hannibal, Missouri, said the paid sick leave requirement imposes a double financial hit because he must pay one person to stay home and another to fill the shift.

''When this goes into effect, we very likely won't survive,'' said Hart, who has urged the state Senate to halt the law.

The paid sick leave laws are set to kick in Thursday in Missouri, July 1 in Alaska and Oct. 1 in Nebraska.

McDonald's restaurant worker Richard Eiker is among those who stand to benefit. He signed a petition putting the initiative on the Missouri ballot and traveled recently from Kansas City to the state Capitol to lobby lawmakers to let the law stand.

In 40 years on the job, Eiker has never received paid sick leave — not even when he was struggling with a kidney stone.

''I just took some pain medication and just went into work anyway and just worked past the pain,'' Eiker said. ''It would have been nice to have stayed home.''

Lower-wage workers are less likely to get paid sick leave

Federal law requires many employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for personal or family medical issues. But there is no federal mandate to pay for sick days.

Nonetheless, 79% of private-sector employees received paid sick leave last year, according to the Department of Labor. Part-time workers were significantly less likely to receive the benefit than their full-time counterparts. And just 58% of employees in the bottom quarter of income earners received paid sick leave, compared with 94% in the top quartile.

Though still discretionary for many employers, the number of states mandating paid sick leave has grown significantly since Connecticut enacted the first such law in 2012. Last year's ballot measures raised the total to 18 states and the District of Columbia. Three additional states require paid leave for any reason, without specifying sickness.

Many paid sick leave laws, including the ones in Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska, apply to any employer with at least one worker. But some states exempt the smallest businesses, with cutoffs ranging from five to 25 employees. The number of annual paid sick days also varies.

Missouri lawmaker wants it to be ‘less onerous' for employers

On Tuesday the state Supreme Court upheld Missouri's paid sick leave law against a challenge from business groups. But efforts to revise it continue.

In March, Republican House members passed legislation to repeal the paid sick leave requirement. That was then blocked by minority-party Democrats in the Senate. So Republicans are pushing an alternative that would delay the law until later this year, exempt smaller businesses and take away workers' ability to sue over alleged violations.

The intent is to ''just make it a little less onerous on employers,'' said Republican state Sen. Mike Bernskoetter, a small business owner who is backing the bill.

But many workers already have it tough, Democratic lawmakers said.

''When there's people living paycheck to paycheck, just missing a little bit of work can really put them behind,'' Democratic state Sen. Patty Lewis said.

Nebraska senator warns of ‘huge overstep' by colleagues

Legislation pushed by Republican lawmakers in Nebraska state would carve out exceptions from paid sick leave for 14- and-15-year-old employees, temporary and seasonal agricultural workers and businesses with 10 or fewer employees.

The legislation also would strip workers of the ability to sue employers who retaliate against them for using paid sick leave.

Supporters of the revisions say they aim to protect small businesses from higher costs. Opponents say they are essentially gutting the law.

''We're talking about just whole swaths of the ballot language being stricken by this,'' state Sen. John Cavanaugh said during recent debate. ''That is a huge overstep by this Legislature to say that we know better than the people who voted for this.''

Alaska labor leader foresees ‘long battle' over voters' wishes

A bill by state Rep. Justin Ruffridge would exempt seasonal workers and businesses with fewer than 50 employees from the sick leave requirement. That could exclude many catering to Alaska's summer tourists.

Ruffridge, a member of the House's Republican minority, said small business owners should be able to choose whether to spend money on sick leave benefits or other measures to grow their businesses.

Joelle Hall, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO, which supported the ballot measure, doubts Ruffridge's bill will gain traction in the final weeks of this year's session.

But, she said, ''I believe this is the beginning of a long battle to protect the voters' wishes from the wills and the whims of the businesspeople who don't want to pay sick days.''

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Beck reported from Lincoln, Nebraska, and Bohrer from Juneau, Alaska.