And the Democrats wonder why "not enough jobs":::Democrats press for 5 weeks of family leave with pay
[KLP Note: Wonder just how many in the State Legislature have had their own small business????? It's bad enough that Government employees have paid leave....but small business is the ONLY group that is growing....big business is having to sub work out to other countries to survive....The Dems will NEVER learn....]
Wednesday, February 02, 2005 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.
seattletimes.nwsource.com
By Ralph Thomas
Seattle Times Olympia bureau
OLYMPIA — Democrats in the state Legislature say they have their best chance in years to give KLP says give???? ya, right..." Washington employees up to five weeks of paid family medical leave — and a guarantee that they would still have a job when they return.
The proposed benefit, which would be one of the most generous in the country, has roiled the state's business groups, who say it would drive up costs and weaken Washington's recovering economy.
But supporters say the bills would help thousands of workers who are forced to choose between losing their job or staying home to take care of a newborn baby or ailing parent.
"People who are making beds at the hotels, serving dinner ... are living on the edge," said Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines and the bill's prime sponsor in the state Senate. "They have no sick leave, they have no vacation leave."
Employees could use the leave to care for a newborn baby or to bond with a newly adopted child or a new foster child. They could also use it to care for an ailing family member or for personal sick leave.
Under existing federal law, employees in larger companies are entitled to up to 12 weeks of medical leave for themselves or to take care of family members. But the law does not require paid leave, and it does not cover businesses with fewer than 50 employees.
Under House Bill 1173 and Senate Bill 5069, all employers would be required to provide paid leave, which would be funded through a new state-run insurance program at the Department of Labor and Industries.
LEGISLATION
House Bill 1173 and Senate Bill 5069 can be tracked on the state Legislature's Web site, www.leg.wa.gov
Workers who have been employed for at least 17 weeks would qualify for up to five weeks of paid leave at $250 per week, an amount that would increase with inflation. The program would initially cost more than $70 million per year. How the legislation would work
Benefit: Washington employees could receive five weeks of paid leave at $250 a week for medical conditions, to care for a new baby or to care for a sick family member.
Cost: Program would initially cost about $70 million a year, and would be financed by a 2-cent-an-hour payroll tax. The cost, about $40 per worker per year, would be split between employer and employee under one version of the legislation.
It would be financed by requiring employers to pay 2 cents per hour worked by each employee — about $40 a year per employee. Under the Senate bill, employers would deduct half of that — a penny an hour — from employee paychecks. The House version leaves that optional for employers.
Democrats have been pushing similar legislation in recent years. But with the economy on the mend, and Democrats in control of both chambers of the Legislature, Keiser says the legislation has a better chance this year. California adopted a similar family-leave insurance program last year.
Marty Brown, legislative liaison for Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire, said the new governor has not had a chance to review the bill and has not taken a position.
Business lobbyists rank the family-leave legislation among their biggest worries for the session.
"I know there's good intent," Gary Smith, executive director of the Independent Business Association, told a House committee this week.
"But it is a huge, expansive increase in family-leave laws."
Support from many interests
The Seattle-based Economic Opportunity Institute, a labor-supported think tank, has been pushing for paids family leave for several years.
"Half the population has no leave, period," said Laura Paskin, spokeswoman for the group. "If they don't show up to work, they don't get paid or they could lose their job."
The bill is supported by health-care advocates, AARP and the state Senior Lobby.
Without paid-leave benefits, thousands of workers each year are "having to choose between their income and time with their families," said Democratic Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson of Seattle, who sponsored the bill in the House.
Selena Allen of Auburn told lawmakers that paid family leave would have been a big help to her two years ago, when her son was born more than a month prematurely and had to be hospitalized for two and a half weeks.
She had only six days of leave time accrued at the time, and wanted to save that for after he was allowed to come home. She returned to work two days after he was born.
"Instead of focusing on my child who had health issues, I had to go to work because I couldn't afford not to," Allen said.
The legislation also has support from some in the business community.
Richard Clarke, president of Amtech, a fiberglass-products manufacturer that has 160 employees in Yakima and Yelm, Thurston County, told lawmakers the legislation would cut down on costly turnover. He also pointed out it would save the state money by preventing some workers from having to go on welfare.
"This is just good business," said Mike Radice, who owns Greenwood Hardware in Seattle, where he employs 11 people.
Radice said if one of his employees is unable to come to work, the store provides half of that person's salary for up to three months.
In 2003, he said, one of his managers fell ill with cancer and had to go on leave for several months.
"We held his job for him and everybody came to the plate and worked overtime to cover his shifts," Radice said.
If the family-leave legislation passes, Radice said, it will help cover an employee's leave costs and put him on more equal footing with his competitors.
"Not the direction to go"
But lobbyists from many of the state's largest business associations spoke out against the bill this week, including the Association of Washington Business. Lobbyists representing retailers, grocers and farmers also oppose it.
"We think this is not the direction to go in this economy right now," said Carolyn Logue, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business. "We're going to be setting our economy backward."
If passed, the legislation would further Washington's reputation as a labor-friendly state. The state has the highest minimum wage in the nation, $7.35 an hour with an annual inflation adjustment, and among the highest unemployment benefits, a maximum of $496 a week.
In 2002, the Legislature passed a law allowing workers to use accrued sick leave or paid time off to stay home and care for a family member. Although many states have adopted similar laws for public employees, Washington was one of six states to extend the law to the private sector.
Twenty-one states introduced paid-family-leave bills last year, according to the National Partnership For Women and Families, a Washington, D.C., advocacy group. California is the only one with a comprehensive program offering up to six weeks of guaranteed leave and partial wages.
Lesa Boxx, who helps run Boxx Berry Farms in Ferndale, Whatcom County, said the family-run business hires about 50 seasonal employees for about six months each year. The company supports good employees, she said, but it couldn't afford being forced to let workers go on leave for five weeks during harvest season.
"I need my workers to be at work," said Boxx, who testified on behalf of the Washington Farm Bureau. "If we don't get our berries picked, we'll go out of business."
Opponents argued that most employers already go out of their way to help good employees, and that a government-mandated leave program could be abused.
"The only people this bill would benefit are people who are not good employees," said Dan Fazio, assistant director of government relations for the Farm Bureau.
Times staff reporter Shirleen Holt
contributed to this report.
Ralph Thomas: 360-943-9882 or rthomas@seattletimes.com |
