{"id":23461,"date":"2025-05-02T16:23:46","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T16:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/?p=822396"},"modified":"2025-05-02T16:23:46","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T16:23:46","slug":"lawmakers-in-3-states-want-to-roll-back-paid-sick-leave-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2025\/05\/02\/lawmakers-in-3-states-want-to-roll-back-paid-sick-leave-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers in 3 States Want to Roll Back Paid Sick Leave Benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/img\/social\/opengraph\/ij-social-legislation-1200x630.png\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<ul class=\"nav nav-tabs tabs tabs-entry\">\n<li class=\"active\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/midwest\/2025\/05\/02\/822396.htm\">Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/midwest\/2025\/05\/02\/822396.htm?comments\" rel=\"nofollow\">1 Comment<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"article-content clearfix\">\n<p>Voters in Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska were asked last year whether they wanted to require employers to provide <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/paid-sick-leave-family-medical-leave-d61ddb6a105af79a3191cfbffbe2f584\">paid sick leave<\/a> to their workers. They overwhelmingly said yes.<\/p>\n<p>Now some lawmakers in each of those states are trying to roll back the benefits, citing concerns from businesses about costs.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bzn bzn-sized bzn-intext\">\n<ins data-revive-zoneid=\"79\" data-revive-topics=\"legislation\" data-revive-companies data-revive-block=\"1\" data-revive-id=\"36eb7c2bd3daa932a43cc2a8ffbed3a9\"><\/ins> <\/div>\n<p>The efforts mark the latest attempt by legislators to <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ballot-initiatives-sick-leave-minimum-wage-abortion-c4dbda039d63cc121b662f9b7ee7e522\">alter laws backed by the voters<\/a> they represent. In February, for example, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/michigan-lawmakers-weaken-tipped-wages-sick-leave-fee7747db8006646277000a4f5abf686\">Michigan enacted revisions<\/a> to a paid sick leave law initiated by voters seven years ago, delaying the date when small businesses must comply and allowing a longer period before new employees are eligible.<\/p>\n<p>Though some voters are outraged, some lawmakers contend that citizen activists who crafted the initiatives overlooked the realities of running a business.<\/p>\n<p>Restaurant owner Tim Hart, who employs about two dozen workers at his steakhouse in Hannibal, Missouri, said the paid sick leave requirement imposes a double financial hit because he must pay one person to stay home and another to fill the shift.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen this goes into effect, we very likely won\u2019t survive,\u201d said Hart, who has urged the state Senate to halt the law.<\/p>\n<p>The paid sick leave laws are set to kick in Thursday in Missouri, July 1 in Alaska and Oct. 1 in Nebraska.<\/p>\n<p>McDonald\u2019s restaurant worker Richard Eiker is among those who stand to benefit. He signed a petition putting the initiative on the Missouri ballot and traveled recently from Kansas City to the state Capitol to lobby lawmakers to let the law stand.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bzn bzn-sized bzn-intext-2\">\n<ins data-revive-zoneid=\"162\" data-revive-topics=\"legislation\" data-revive-companies data-revive-block=\"1\" data-revive-id=\"36eb7c2bd3daa932a43cc2a8ffbed3a9\"><\/ins> <\/div>\n<p>In 40 years on the job, Eiker has never received paid sick leave \u2014 not even when he was struggling with a kidney stone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just took some pain medication and just went into work anyway and just worked past the pain,\u201d Eiker said. \u201cIt would have been nice to have stayed home.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">Lower-wage workers are less likely to get paid sick leave<\/h4>\n<p>Federal law requires many employers to provide up to <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/biden-politics-family-medicine-united-states-government-business-750332bd9d8c5b344f9bf5d3249629e3\">12 weeks of unpaid leave<\/a> for personal or family medical issues. But there is no federal mandate to pay for sick days.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, 79% of private-sector employees received paid sick leave last year, according to the Department of Labor. Part-time workers were significantly less likely to receive the benefit than their full-time counterparts. And just 58% of employees in the bottom quarter of income earners received paid sick leave, compared with 94% in the top quartile.<\/p>\n<p>Though still discretionary for many employers, the number of states mandating paid sick leave has grown significantly since Connecticut enacted the first such law in 2012. Last year\u2019s ballot measures raised the total to 18 states and the District of Columbia. Three additional states require paid leave for any reason, without specifying sickness.<\/p>\n<p>Many paid sick leave laws, including the ones in Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska, apply to any employer with at least one worker. But some states exempt the smallest businesses, with cutoffs ranging from five to 25 employees. The number of annual paid sick days also varies.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">Missouri lawmaker wants it to be \u2018less onerous\u2019 for employers<\/h4>\n<p>On Tuesday the state Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/minimum-wage-paid-sick-leave-missouri-a46a003b64c5667bc148b8fdceb46091\">upheld Missouri\u2019s paid sick leave law<\/a> against a challenge from business groups. But efforts to revise it continue.<\/p>\n<p>In March, Republican House members passed legislation to repeal the paid sick leave requirement. That was then blocked by minority-party Democrats in the Senate. So Republicans are pushing an alternative that would delay the law until later this year, exempt smaller businesses and take away workers\u2019 ability to sue over alleged violations.<\/p>\n<p>The intent is to \u201cjust make it a little less onerous on employers,\u201d said Republican state Sen. Mike Bernskoetter, a small business owner who is backing the bill.<\/p>\n<p>But many workers already have it tough, Democratic lawmakers said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen there\u2019s people living paycheck to paycheck, just missing a little bit of work can really put them behind,\u201d Democratic state Sen. Patty Lewis said.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">Nebraska senator warns of \u2018huge overstep\u2019 by colleagues<\/h4>\n<p>Legislation pushed by Republican lawmakers in Nebraska would carve out exceptions from paid sick leave for 14- and-15-year-old employees, temporary and seasonal agricultural workers and businesses with 10 or fewer employees.<\/p>\n<p>The legislation also would strip workers of the ability to sue employers who retaliate against them for using paid sick leave.<\/p>\n<p>Supporters of the revisions say they aim to protect small businesses from higher costs. Opponents say they are essentially gutting the law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re talking about just whole swaths of the ballot language being stricken by this,\u201d state Sen. John Cavanaugh said during recent debate. \u201cThat is a huge overstep by this Legislature to say that we know better than the people who voted for this.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">Alaska labor leader foresees \u2018long battle\u2019 over voters\u2019 wishes<\/h4>\n<p>A bill by state Rep. Justin Ruffridge would exempt seasonal workers and businesses with fewer than 50 employees from the sick leave requirement. That could exclude many catering to Alaska\u2019s summer tourists.<\/p>\n<p>Ruffridge, a member of the House\u2019s Republican minority, said small business owners should be able to choose whether to spend money on sick leave benefits or other measures to grow their businesses.<\/p>\n<p>Joelle Hall, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO, which supported the ballot measure, doubts Ruffridge\u2019s bill will gain traction in the final weeks of this year\u2019s session.<\/p>\n<p>But, she said, \u201cI believe this is the beginning of a long battle to protect the voters\u2019 wishes from the wills and the whims of the businesspeople who don\u2019t want to pay sick days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>Beck reported from Lincoln, Nebraska, and Bohrer from Juneau, Alaska.<\/p>\n<div class=\"copyright-notice lite\">Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/div>\n<p class=\"tagtag\"> <span class=\"tagtag\">Topics<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/legislation\/\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-primary tagtag\">Legislation<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll\" data-post=\"822396\">\n<div class=\"article-poll-vote\">\n<p>Was this article valuable?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-feedback voted-no\">\n<form class=\"feedback-form\">\n<p>Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article.<\/p>\n<p> <textarea placeholder=\"Enter your feedback...\"><\/textarea> <button type=\"submit\" class=\"submit\" disabled>Submit<\/button> <button class=\"cancel\">No Thanks<\/button> <\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-feedback voted-yes\">\n<form class=\"feedback-form\">\n<p>Thank you! <span class=\"percent\"><\/span>% of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it.<\/p>\n<p> <textarea placeholder=\"Enter your feedback...\"><\/textarea> <button type=\"submit\" class=\"submit\" disabled>Submit<\/button> <button class=\"cancel\">No Thanks<\/button> <\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-more-articles\">\n<p class=\"thank-you-text\">Here are more articles you may enjoy.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"subscribe-banner subscribe-banner-in-content-2\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h4>Interested in <em>Legislation<\/em>?<\/h4>\n<p>Get automatic alerts for this topic.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article 1 Comment Voters in Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska were asked last year whether they wanted to require employers to provide paid sick leave to their workers. They overwhelmingly said yes. Now some lawmakers&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[13,1,1440],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/lawmakers-in-3-states-want-to-roll-back-paid-sick-leave-benefits.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23461"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}