Group rallies for Maine paid sick leave bill

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Supporters of draft legislation forcing Maine companies to give employees paid sick days off marched to the offices of the Portland Regional Chamber to urge the business group to support their cause.

Following a press conference, members of the Maine Work and Family Coalition delivered a report that cites the positive public health impact of paid sick leave.

Legislative leaders have announced plans to introduce legislation that would expand the state's policies on paid time off for sickness, medical appointments or to care for sick family members, among other things.

Chamber Vice President Chris Hall said there's clearly a problem with workers and sick leave, but putting the burden solely on the back of employers probably isn't the answer during these tough economic times.

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Displaying comments, from newest to oldest

Govt2Big's picture
verified

Rob has made a great point,

Rob has made a great point, and you can simply look at the State of Maine workforce for one large example of how it's being abused... at the taxpayers' expense.

lead dog's picture

The group calling for this

The group calling for this bill cites a positive health impact from paid sick leave. What is needed is for employees to have a sense of personal responsibility to avoid spreading sickness to there fellow workers and the general public. The most common illnesses spread at work are cold and flu. Add school children to the situation of contagious diseases and you get things like chicken pox and other once commopn childhood diseases. You should stay home when you are sick for 2 primary reasons: so you can rest and get better faster and so you don't make the people around you get sick. Keep your sick kids home from school for the same reasons. Also you are not very useful at work when you are sick. It is not the employer's responsibility to pay someone who is not contributing. Everybody should keep an emergency fund so missing a few days of work is not a financial catastrophy. This is part of being a responsible adult. If someone else at work is sick protect yourself and the rest of the crew by telling the boss so the sick coworker can be sent home.

Centarie2000's picture
verified

My question is not just

My question is not just about who will pay for this, but also who will work. Employers don't have a bottomless supply of ready made employees to cover call-outs. It takes time and money to hire, train, and schedual new employees, even per diem staff who may or may not be able to cover on a given day. While this would offer a limited supply of jobs to a limited number of people for a limited amount of time, this isn't as plausable as it seems.

Mike04938's picture

. ...i do not know if y'all

. ...i do not know if y'all work . With unemployment and under employment running > 1 0 % this year , finding workers is not a problem . It's either paid sick leave or universal health care ( like in Canada :)

Mike04938's picture

. ..duplicate post

. ..duplicate post

ROB's picture

Well said, Candice Anne! I

Well said, Candice Anne!
I agree with you wholeheartedly.
Does anybody honestly think that employees will forgo this given paid time off?
How do you prove the time off was for a legitimate reason?
Another reason for businesses to set up shop elsewhere.
Oh well, pretty soon, we'll all be unemployed and will then be paid for our time off whether it's for medical reasons or not.

candiceanne's picture

Another nail for the coffin

Another nail for the coffin of jobs in Maine. This is just not reasonable. People without jobs do not have to worry about sick days though.

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