Berkshires Weighs In On New Earned Sick Time Law
.JPG) State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier was among those who testified on Friday. |
Those employees don't get benefits but with the new law passed by voters last November, they could be eligible for earned sick time. It will cost BC Arc some $30,000 more annually to provide those days off and there isn't a revenue stream to do so.
"Our largest concern is per diems. We can't live without them," Caritey said.
Voters statewide approved a ballot measure in November that requires all employers with more than 11 employees to provide earned sick time. The attorney general's office is now crafting guidelines around that requirement. On Friday, representatives from the AG's office heard local concerns at a hearing at City Hall. Caritey was one of a dozen testifying about the impact of the measure on businesses.
"This will be a burden that will harm the employers in Massachusetts," said June Roy-Martin, Berkshire Chamber of Commerce's vice president of member services.
Patricia Begrowicz owns Onyx Specialty Papers Inc. and said she has spent years crafting policies around employee attendance. With 155 workers running the plant around the clock, attendance is of utmost concern. The law allows employees to provide a one-hour notice of absenteeism, which could lead to calling those with a day off in or having shift workers stay late to cover with little notice.
"It eliminates a lot of the notice," she said.
That one hour includes in the middle of the shift, she said. She is hoping the attorney general's office will make the earned sick time be in full shifts and not hourly. Vice President of Human Resources at Berkshire Health Systems Arthur Milano said it allows for workers to "remember a dentist appointment" in the middle of the shift. While not all employees abuse the system, he said many will.
Teresa Daignault says at Adams Plumbing and Heating, the employees are "sick" both of the two days the company provides. By requiring 40 hours of time, she expects they'll be "sick" five days each year now. For the company, the additional cost adds up to two full-time workers, she said.
"The cost to the worker is going to be less jobs or reduced benefits to compensate for the added costs," she said.
Meanwhile, at Williams College there are more than 1,200 students working 10 hours or less. Janine Burt, student employment manager, said it isn't feasible for the college to provide sick time to those students because a lot of the work is part of the financial aid packages paid by the federal government. The federal government won't pay for the sick time, she said. She asked for those students to be exempt from the law.
Another concern business owners had was that as written, the law says the pay for the sick days will be that of the previous week. The owners said it should instead be based on the typical pay rate because some offer profit sharing or other incentives.
On the other side of the argument, Berkshire Central Labor Council President Brian Morrison said there are a million workers who are not paid for sick days.
"Those workers are often forced with the choice of going to work sick or losing a day's pay," Morrison said.
He says the law should prevent companies from retaliating on workers when they take sick days.
"There is a great deal of passion and interest in earned sick time," said Assistant Attorney General Shane Blundell, who presided over the hearing.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier said the problem with the law is that it was written with "only one side of the argument." She said putting it into action will be "messy and complicated" but she called for no delays in doing so.
"We need to be sensitive to the cost to businesses but also the cost to workers needs to be considered," Farley-Bouvier said. "Do not delay implementing this law especially when it comes to workers being able to accrue time. The workers of Massachusetts deserve to get this started."
Tags: ballot measure, employee benefits, sick time,
