Coalition launches push to require sick days

"A union-led, statewide coalition officially kicked off a campaign yesterday to enact the Ohio Healthy Families Act in 2008. The proposed law would require all companies with at least 25 employees to give employees seven sick days a year. Part-time workers would get a prorated number of days." (Source: "Push for sick days begins," The Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 23, 2007.) The coalition announced yesterday that they had collected 140,000 signatures of registered voters to put the law before the General Assembly. 120,683 valid signatures are required to present a proposal to state lawmakers.

According to Policy Matters Ohio, "2.2 million Ohio workers have no paid sick time and 3.3 million cannot take a paid day to care for a sick child or parent." Their study also found that "only half of retail workers had paid sick days. In the food-service industry, less than a quarter of workers get paid when they're ill."

According to the article, business owners are skeptical of the proposed law's cost and bureaucratic intrusion on their operations. Ty Pine, legislative director for the National Federation of Independent Business/Ohio, said that small-business owners will suffer the most under this proposed law since many large businesses already give employees sick days. If the legislature fails to act on the proposed law within 120 days from the start of next year's Assembly session, supporters would have to collect another 120,683 signatures for the proposal to be on the November 2008 general election ballot.