Commonground
Senior Moderator
September 10, 2009 01:28 am
By Margo Sullivan
margosullivan@eagletribune.com It wouldn't make it through the Statehouse in time to help anybody dealing with swine flu, but lawmakers will continue work on a paid sick days bill for Granite State workers.
Rep. Mary Gile, D-Concord, one of the paid sick day bill's prime sponsors, said in a telephone press conference yesterday the idea has been under study for some time. Without question, still unresolved swine flu fears have pushed the bill into the spotlight, she said.
Gile and other proponents, including Nikki Murphy, director of New Hampshire Women's Lobby and Alliance, said the bill would offer five paid sick days to be used by workers themselves or for the care of family members.
If it passes, some business owners would have to provide an hour of sick time for every 30 hours an employee works. But businesses which already offer paid sick leave would not be required to offer more days or change their policies, Murphy said. Employers with fewer than 10 workers on the payroll would be excluded.
The bill was retained in the House Labor Committee for further study over the summer. State lawmakers wanted to see how Congress would deal with the legislation on the federal level, Gile said previously. She added she thought lawmakers must come up with incentives to persuade New Hampshire's small franchise operators and hotels that paid sick days would be a win-win situation.
She said the bill might be retained in subcommittee for further study or could be reported out with a recommendation.
The hope is, Gile said, the recommendation would be for passage. Nonetheless, the earliest the bill could be enacted is 2010, she said.
Currently, some 254,000 New Hampshire workers do not have paid sick days, Murphy said. That's 47 percent of the private sector and 26 percent of employees overall.
In New Hampshire, part-time employees are the biggest group of workers lacking paid sick days, according to a recent study by Dr. Kristin Smith, a researcher with the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. Smith found no paid sick days for 65 percent of part-time employees in the Granite State and 16 percent of full-time workers.
http://www.eagletribune.com/punewsnh/local_story_253012918.html?keyword=secondarystory
By Margo Sullivan
margosullivan@eagletribune.com It wouldn't make it through the Statehouse in time to help anybody dealing with swine flu, but lawmakers will continue work on a paid sick days bill for Granite State workers.
Rep. Mary Gile, D-Concord, one of the paid sick day bill's prime sponsors, said in a telephone press conference yesterday the idea has been under study for some time. Without question, still unresolved swine flu fears have pushed the bill into the spotlight, she said.
Gile and other proponents, including Nikki Murphy, director of New Hampshire Women's Lobby and Alliance, said the bill would offer five paid sick days to be used by workers themselves or for the care of family members.
If it passes, some business owners would have to provide an hour of sick time for every 30 hours an employee works. But businesses which already offer paid sick leave would not be required to offer more days or change their policies, Murphy said. Employers with fewer than 10 workers on the payroll would be excluded.
The bill was retained in the House Labor Committee for further study over the summer. State lawmakers wanted to see how Congress would deal with the legislation on the federal level, Gile said previously. She added she thought lawmakers must come up with incentives to persuade New Hampshire's small franchise operators and hotels that paid sick days would be a win-win situation.
She said the bill might be retained in subcommittee for further study or could be reported out with a recommendation.
The hope is, Gile said, the recommendation would be for passage. Nonetheless, the earliest the bill could be enacted is 2010, she said.
Currently, some 254,000 New Hampshire workers do not have paid sick days, Murphy said. That's 47 percent of the private sector and 26 percent of employees overall.
In New Hampshire, part-time employees are the biggest group of workers lacking paid sick days, according to a recent study by Dr. Kristin Smith, a researcher with the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. Smith found no paid sick days for 65 percent of part-time employees in the Granite State and 16 percent of full-time workers.
http://www.eagletribune.com/punewsnh/local_story_253012918.html?keyword=secondarystory