Connecticut’s mandatory sick leave law causing municipalities fits.
In some cases, towns will have to pay both the wages for a worker who is out sick and the wages for a substitute, said West Hartford Town Manager Ronald Van Winkle. Some jobs can’t be left vacant even for one day, he said.
Requiring paid sick leave will cost cities and towns money during already difficult financial times, said the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, which represents cities and towns. The organization has regularly opposed paid sick leave proposals, including the version that was passed last year.
“While CCM is sympathetic to the intent of this new law, it is problematic as it still imposes a new, unfunded state mandate on all towns and cities in a recession era when municipal resources are already extremely limited,” said Kevin Maloney, CCM’s spokesman. ”… Struggling with the administration of unprecedented, new state mandates such as the paid sick leave law, absent any funding to implement it, only exasperates local budgetary problems.”
Of course, the true target of the Democrats, private businesses, are also suffering, but that was the intent, so that’s OK. Too bad about those cities, though.
Businesses are also dealing with the implementation of the new state law, said Mark Soycher, human resource services counsel for the Connecticut Business and Industry Association.
The new law has caused some companies to cut back on some benefits and revise administrative practices that were in conflict with the law, such as incentive programs, he said.
