New Jersey businesses need help, not more regulations. But, unfortunately, our state government is proposing more restrictions for employers in the name of more rights for workers.
Last week, a state Assembly committee proposed a bill that would guarantee paid sick leave to almost all workers in New Jersey. Workers in both the private and public sectors would accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, and would be allowed to carry forward between five and nine days from one year to the next, depending on the size of the company.
For a full-time employee who works 40 hours per week, that would equate to almost nine guaranteed paid sick leave days per year.
Proponents of the bill say it would add an increased level of security for the nearly 1.1 million New Jersey employees who are unable to earn paid leave right now. Under the proposal, paid sick leave could be taken for one’s own illness, or to care for another.
Not surprisingly, business groups in the state are against the proposal, and you can count us among those who feel it’s bad for business.
A story in the Asbury Park Press, published last week, quotes Danielle Cyr, the New Jersey director for Americans of Prosperity, who says that 80 percent of small businesses fail within their first 18 months of operation, even without mandates such as paid sick leave that she said small businesses can’t afford. One thing she said wraps it up firmly:
“Business growth inevitably leads to improved benefits and pay, but it is regulations like these that stop growth before it can begin.”
We couldn’t agree more.
A Bloomberg study recently found that job growth in New Jersey was less than a third of that of New York, and, adjusted for inflation, our state’s median household income declined 12.2 percent, compared to 3.9 percent nationally.
At a time when New Jersey is reeling from a lack of job growth and job loss on a major scale, small businesses in the state don’t need more restrictive regulations. They need help, incentives, not more reasons not to hire.
The motivation behind paid sick leave is noble, but it isn’t necessary. If our government would focus on stimulating business and not stunting it, we wouldn’t have this problem.
