About 46 million U.S. workers do not enjoy paid sick leave benefits. Among the 12 states which are studying the proposal for a universal paid sick leave are Connecticut, Minnesota and West Virginia. There was a federal proposal, but it was stalled.
The Ohioans for Healthy Families is pushing to have a ballot initiative in November on the issue. The National Partnership for Women and Families, which is lobbying for paid sick leaves and other workplace benefits, said having it is the next frontier in assuring workplaces are safe.
Small companies are usually opposed to it because it would prevent them from managing their flexible choice of benefits like a mixture of vacation and personal days off which employees may use when they are ill. But many large companies already offer that benefit to their staff.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 43 percent of workers in the private industry in 2007 did not have paid sick leaves.
Business lobbyists and legislators in California killed in early August a bill that proposed a universal five days of paid sick leave for all employees in the state. Large firms may be allowed to have as many as nine days per annum.
