Comments on: Sick leave act would aid gay families

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 27 May 2009 01:58:23 +0000

I guess my question is What would this do to the good employers that already offer sick leave, I am fortunate and can accumulate more than this, but it seems it offers Those Employers a way to reduce more expenses, by shortening what they already offer?

By: Todd

Todd — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:20:36 +0000

Gregg, Apparently you have never been in business for yourself, and I would suggest that you never go into business for yourself, with your attitude. My business would be exempt, and that is fine. Health Insurance, Sick Leave, Vacation, and should I dare start about the taxes/social security/medicare, unemployment, we (as a business) pay on your behalf as an employer. Probably have never thought of it in those terms. Let it go, and we will see what happens with the bill before we worry.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:36:15 +0000

I think the ‘equivalent of a family relationship’ is more closely related to say, really close friends or room mates, not specifically LGBT families. I’d hope so anyway. And besides, if it was only geared towards ‘families,’ LGBT or otherwise, what would happen to people like me who never plans on marrying, even if it becomes legal? Also, as to any capitalist pig whining about having to treating his or her employees like human beings rather than draft animals, try telling your employees that your personal profit margins are more important than the health of them or their loved ones and see how productive they’ll be for you after that, eh? If you treat your workers well they might actually look forward to working for you and be more productive. Shocking revelation isn’t it? People work best when they aren’t treated like they’re expendable!

By: Clark

Clark — Wed, 20 May 2009 22:44:35 +0000

Heck…pretend every single person in the company calls in 7 times a year. So in the end you are out exactly 1 weeks paycheck more than normal for a person. Thats a 1/52th pay increase of 1.9%, which pales even by comparison to average wage increaces.

No employee worth having will cry at trading in their yearly raise for a weeks leave the first year of the policy change. It’s not even a statistical ripple in the finances of any company paying at least 16 people minimum wage.

By: Clark

Clark — Wed, 20 May 2009 22:27:56 +0000

Seriously…People really have businesses where they can afford to hire 16+ employees and pay them all just fine for a full year, yet somehow they can’t afford the SAME exact cost if the employees miss a couple days of work out of the year. These companies profits are apparently only coming from the money they save by not paying the employees who are calling in sick anyways.

All those fun studies have proven that employees who don’t constantly agonize over the choice between health care or food, are more productive in general because they appreciate their jobs more, and they are less likely to get sick in the first place. Allowing employees avenues to create work-life balance should be part of any business’ working model in the first place.

By: Gregg

Gregg — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:57:26 +0000

Todd, if you can’t afford to pay somebody a measley 7 days of sick leave a year, then you shouldn’t be in business in the first place.

By: Salem

Salem — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:28:48 +0000

maybe they should provision sick leave to what a small business can afford instead of full sick leave pay, maybe a fourth or half although when being sick money can be an issue its better than not getting any leave at all

By: H

Wed, 20 May 2009 19:45:57 +0000

I also have a small business. And as a small business I am exempt…. As stated in this article a small business is considered to be a business with less then 15 employees… If you don’t have 15 employees the passage of this will not effect you at all…. If you have more then 15 employees I suppose you are considered a medium sized business and would have to provide these benefits if they pass…..

By: Todd

Todd — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:25:59 +0000

I am a Democrat, I am gay, I am a small business owner, and I can not afford to offer “paid sick leave” to our employees. With respect, this is not a LGBT issue, but an issue of costs to the small business. This simply does not make sense to force a small business to add additional costs to their already strained budgets.

By: Jay

Jay — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:24:48 +0000

Want to bet that even if this law is passed the “equivalent of a family relationship” clause will be struck out? And what the hell does it mean to say that my family is the equivalent of a real family?