MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - More Vermont workers are starting off the new year accruing paid sick leave that they can use when they fall ill or need time off to tend to sick family members or address other emergencies.
The new law, signed by outgoing Gov. Peter Shumlin last March, is expected to benefit about 60,000 Vermont workers who do not have access to paid sick leave through their work.
Starting Sunday, the new law requires employers to provide a minimum of three paid sick days in a 12-month period for full-time employees. In 2019, the law will jump to five days.
Melinda Moulton, the CEO of the development business Main Street Landing, which has worked for decades to redevelop the Burlington waterfront and has pushed for paid sick leave as one of a number of socially responsible business practices, said she would like to see the law amended to provide more sick days. But it’s a start, she said.
“If you’re a single mother and you’re working in a retail store and you have a sick child, what are your options if you don’t have family members around?” Moulton said. “What do they do? It’s cruel.”
Some small-business organizations have said the new law will hit them hard.
The Vermont chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business has argued that paid sick leave would increase the cost of doing business and that some small businesses wouldn’t be able to absorb the cost.
More than 20 cities nationwide; the states of California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Oregon; and the District of Columbia have mandatory paid sick leave.
Under the terms of the law, workers accrue no less than one hour of earned sick time for every 52 hours worked. Employers may also require a waiting period of up to one year before newly hired employees can use the sick time.
Last year, Shumlin called for paid sick leave in his State of the State address.
When he signed the bill, the Democratic governor said that 90 percent of all food workers reported they go to work sick and that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 65 percent of all food-borne illnesses result from sick people handling food.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.