By COLIN M. STEWART
By COLIN M. STEWART
Tribune-Herald Staff Writer
Legislators have retooled a bill that was deferred last year to potentially provide a minimum amount of paid sick and safe leave for employees in the state of Hawaii.
The issue of mandatory sick leave saw heavy debate earlier in the legislative session, with a pair of bills addressing the issue prompting plenty of testimony from the public. Ultimately, however, House Bill 2089 and Senate Bill 2507 failed to make their way out of committee hearings.
Now, much of the language from those bills has been added to House Bill 341, which was scheduled to be heard by the Senate Committe on Judiciary and Labor today at 10:30 a.m. If the committee passes the bill, it will advance to a full vote by the Senate.
Among the bill’s requirements:
• Businesses of all sizes would provide employees a minimum amount of paid and safe leave to employees to be used to care for themselves or a family member who is ill or a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
• Small employers with less than 100 employees who do not provide paid time off will need to give an unspecified number of days off.
• Employers would be prohibited from requiring documentation of an illness unless the sick and safe leave exceeds three days of absence.
• If an employer chooses to require documentation for sick and safe leave and the employee does not have health insurance, the employer shall be responsible for paying all out-of-pocket expenses the employee incurs in obtaining the documentation.
l Paid sick leave accrues at the commencement of employment.
The exact number of hours an employee would need to work to earn sick leave hours and a maximum number of leave hours that an employee can earn have not yet been specified in the text of HB 341.
In testimony concerning HB 2089 presented last month to the House Committee on Economic Revitalization & Business, the state director of the United Public Workers, Local 646, AFL-CIO, explained why many workers feel employers should be mandated to provide minimum sick time.
“Providing employees with sick leave helps ensure that they are healthier and more productive at work. It also reduces the spread of illnesses in the workplace. Every employee should be afforded sick leave benefits. It is the right thing to do,” Dayton M. Nakanelua said.
“We believe the provision of sick leave is a sensible, humane way to treat employees and should be required of all employers,” added representatives from the ILWU Local 142.
But small business owners and large companies alike have balked at the legislation, saying that it would leave too much room for employees to take advantage of their employers, and that the added costs could be too much to bear for some employers.
“While we understand the concerns raised in this measure, businesses generally offer paid leave to employees to create a healthy work environment …,” said Jim Tollefson, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. “They understand that employees will require occasional leave from work …
“However, this measure forces employers to a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, which will hinder an employer’s flexibility in providing this benefit and result in additional costs, direct and indirect. This may not be best-suited for different industries with varying workforce needs. It will be another mandate placed on businesses among others that already exist.
Small businesses and non-profits are especially vulnerable to any increase in costs, especially those who operate on low margins.
Passage of this measure may force many small employers to offset higher costs through lower wages to their employees, fewer work hours, less pay raises, decreased discretionary benefits, and higher health care costs, or even increased costs for consumers. Even worse, for those companies on the ‘tipping point,’ any increase may force them to close shop.”
Hilo businessman Shinichi Matsumoto told legislators that his small business was operating on “slim margins already.”
“Additional costs or mandates will surely impact my business,” he said.
“It’s already difficult to survive this economic downturn,” added Hilo business owner Steven I. Hironaka. “Our company priority and asset is our employees. Therefore, we do everything we can to create a positive work environment and provide benefits that we can afford.”
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.