In spotlight, Md. lawmakers take on paid sick leave

· Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this report misspelled Rob Mulford's surname.

SALISBURY, Md. — The fight between expanding workers' rights and the drive for fiscal conservatism is taking on another element this year in Maryland's state capital.

The General Assembly in Annapolis, Md., is reviewing legislation to mandate certain private employers to give their employees accrued sick leave.

It's become a national issue, with several towns and Washington state reviewing their own versions of the proposed law. President Obama came to Maryland in January to push the issue to Congress, along with Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.

According to Melissa Broome with the workers' advocacy group Job Opportunities Task Force, "700,000 Marylanders lack this most basic workplace element." But the state has just voted in only the second Republican in the last 40 years to the governor's office in Gov. Larry Hogan, who won with a campaign calling for fiscal conservatism.

Supporters claim the bill's exemption to employers with fewer than 10 employees will save 75% of state businesses from having to comply, but opponents say the bill still affects too many small businesses and could further drive much needed investment away from a state already seen as too tax-heavy.

"I'm looking at it from work productivity and from the employer," said state Del. Sheree Sample-Hughes, a Democrat from Wicomico, Md., who supports the bill. "The productivity of an employee who has earned sick leave will be beneficial. They're not going to worry about who's going to care for their kids and their sick leave."

But feelings for the bill are mixed, and one Wicomico County restaurant owner feels it may be yet another reason that he may take his business to neighboring Delaware.

Productivity vs. cost

Supporters of the bill have a number of economic and societal rationales to explain why mandatory sick leave is necessary.

Broome said 50% of full-time employees in the state of Maryland who make $35,000 a year are not offered any paid sick days.

For Del. Luke Clippinger, a Democrat from Baltimore City who is the lead sponsor of House Bill 385, the idea for the bill is largely to protect employees who skirt with the poverty line.

"Those who are our most vulnerable citizens, our low wage workers, are put in impossible situations as they seek to work their way out of poverty," said Clippinger. "Parents with no sick leave are two times more likely to send sick kids to school or daycare."

The current bill makes receiving those days an earned privilege, with employers required to give employees one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours of work.

It was a key provision for Sample-Hughes and her support for the House bill.

"I think that it's a fair bill because people are earning the time," Sample-Hughes said.

Rob Mulford owns both the Market Street Inn and MoJo's restaurant in Salisbury, Md. With between 35 and 40 employees at Market Street and 25 employees at MoJo's, the legislation would directly affect him, as he only offers a version of paid sick leave to salaried managers.

To keep his business in the state, Mulford said there was only one choice if the bill passed: "I'll end up laying people off."

It's a concern many Maryland small businesses have — especially those who voted for a governor who pledged to help small businesses thrive by loosening the state's influence.

When asked whether he's looking to potentially take his business to another state, Mulford simply answered, "I'm already looking."

"It's not a matter of if, just a matter of when," Mulford added. "I can only charge so much per hamburger."

Those in support of the bill say those added costs will be made up in the productivity of employees, something both Clippinger and Sample-Hughes argue will more than compensate for the potential added costs.

"Often times they can't come to work and be productive," Sample-Hughes said.

With minimum wage increases already being implemented in the state, Mulford said he simply can't shoulder more state-mandated costs.

"I worked 85 to 100 hours a week, every week this past year," Mulford said. "You've got this compounded with two minimum wage increases this year already."

Worker protection

Some small business owners disagree with Mulford, saying that integrating paid sick leave into a business model is something that's easily attainable.

Amanda Rothchild owns Charmington's Cafe, the place Obama visited with Mikulski in January. She employs a mix of 15 full-time and part-time workers and advocated on behalf of the bill, saying that by allowing workers to accrue a little over an hour's worth of sick leave for every 30 hours of work, the business has created an environment friendly to employees that isn't restrictive to cost.

"It doesn't cost us really very much money. It only adds not even half of 1% to our overall payroll for the entire year," Rothchild said, adding the company has had this policy since it opened nearly five years ago.

She added she doesn't see any abuse from her workers on the issue, which is one concern Salisbury University associate professor Thomas Calo has with the bill.

Calo, who worked in human resources before becoming a professor at the university 10 years ago, said he has seen employees abuse the guarantees of the Family and Medical Leave Act. The federal mandate passed in 1993 guaranteed unpaid sick leave for private employees, giving a protected 12-week period to those with newborn children, serious illnesses or children who are ill.

"In concept, I was supportive of that because it essentially allowed people to be off from work for various medical conditions without fear of losing their job," Calo said. "But people would get notes from a doctor that would say 'My patient's back problem is acting up again. She's going to have to take 12 weeks off.' And those 12 weeks would coincide when her kids are off from school."

In addition, only 52% of United States businesses that have between 1 and 99 employees offer paid sick leave, according to Bureau of Labor statistics, which made Calo question whether the push for a mandate would push small businesses to the brink of closing.

"It's going to hit the smaller companies that operate on a shoestring budget," Calo said. "If a company is not providing any paid time off, then either they're a terrible employer and people don't want to work there anyway, or they're in dire straits."

And with national attention eyeing how Maryland handles the issue, Rothchild and others hope their initiative will be one that's adopted across the country.

For Sample-Hughes, it's about worrying for those employees who are in trouble of "them losing their housing, their vehicle, their means of transportation," which she said will translate to a better work environment in the state.

The bill is being reviewed in committees in both chambers before it is sent for a vote.

Who gets sick leave

• 74% of full-time workers

• 24% of part-time workers

• 52% of workers in businesses with one to 99 workers

• 72% of workers in business with more than 100 workers

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014