RI lawmakers approve paid sick time

September 20, 2017 6:10 pm

By: Rebecca Turco

Email: rturco@abc6.com

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Rhode Island General Assembly voted Tuesday night to phase-in paid sick days.

Under the bill, workers will be able to take up to three paid sick days beginning July 2018, rising to five days by 2020. Companies with 17 or fewer employees can offer that sick time as unpaid.

“It’s a big win for workers in Rhode Island,” said Georgia Hollister Isman, the state director of the Working Families Party.

More than 100,000 employees who don’t currently receive paid sick time would benefit from the bill, and another 44,000 would be able to take unpaid sick days, according to state officials.

Hollister Isman says the bill protects workers. "They’re having to make a choice: do they go to work sick, or do they miss a piece of their paycheck, or even risk being fired,” she said. “That’s a terrible choice for people."

But small businesses say it’s the bill that’s the terrible choice.

A spokesperson for the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce says the bill would create greater costs for businesses that don’t already have that policy established.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is also against the bill.

"It’s a one-size fits all mandate that makes the assumption that businesses aren’t working with their employees to give time off," explained Chris Carlozzi, the state director of NFIB. He represents roughly 800 businesses in Rhode Island.

"It’s one more labor cost for small businesses, one more thing they have to absorb,” Carlozzi said. “When a small business is paying for a mandate like this or an increased minimum wage, [there] is less money to invest in their business."

Governor Raimondo says she plans on signing the bill. Nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut also have paid sick time laws.