Firms, workers agree: More leave benefits needed

WASHINGTON — Just three weeks ago, small businesses in Pennsylvania reported their top concern was the competition for workers to run their operations in a tight labor market and record-low unemployment.

Now — in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and a widespread shutdown order from Gov. Tom Wolf — they’re most worried about keeping them close and healthy.

In part because of those concerns, the National Federation of Independent Business has endorsed the temporary expansion of paid sick leave and paid family leave benefits to employees at most American businesses who need to stay home because they are sick or because they need to take care of children.

“When we’re moving to stay-at-home orders, closures of non-life-sustaining businesses, in essence it’s a mandated complete closure of an enterprise,” said Gordon Denlinger, state director of the NFIB Pennsylvania, a Harrisburg-based advocacy group representing small businesses.

“And so I think this legislation, given that it’s temporary in nature, is the perfect solution for the type of challenge we face,” Mr. Denlinger said in an interview Friday.

Congress included the nine-month expansion of benefits in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, a $50 billion bill signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 18.

Beginning April 1, most businesses will be required to offer:

• Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick time at the employee’s regular rate of pay for employees unable to work because the employee is quarantined (pursuant to federal, state or local government order or advice of a health care provider), and/or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis; or

• Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick time at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay for employees who need to stay home to care for an individual subject to quarantine or to care for a child whose school or child care provider is closed because of COVID19.

• Up to an additional 10 weeks of paid family and medical leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay for employees who need to care for a child whose school or child care provider is closed because of COVID-19.

The law has some caveats. It does not apply to larger businesses with 500 or more employees. And small businesses with fewer than 50 employees may seek an exemption from providing paid leave “if the leave requirements would jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern.”

Mr. Denlinger said it’s “hard to know” how many of those businesses will seek exemptions and pointed out they’re still waiting on more federal guidance on the exemption process.

The workplace benefits marked a win for labor advocates, who have pressed Congress for years to implement a federal paid leave program.

There is no federal law requiring paid sick days, and the United States is the only developed country without some kind of paid family leave guarantee. There has been no update to the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, which provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for life-altering medical and family reasons, such as a cancer diagnosis, the birth of a child or caring for an elderly parent.

More recently, lawmakers — with Mr. Trump’s support — have warmed to the idea, proposing ways to pay for it. Republicans have proposed allowing workers to borrow from their retirement or to move up child tax credit to cover expenses.

Advocates have argued the most efficient paid leave program would be funded by a state-run insurance program, not unlike how unemployment checks and workers’ compensation are distributed.

In 2018, Pennsylvania labor officials estimated such a program could be funded with weekly contributions from employees’ paychecks. Under the proposal, workers making $35,000 a year would have to pay $2-$5 a week. That program would provide 60% to 90% of wages — with a higher percentage for lowerwage workers — for a maximum leave period ranging from 12 to 26 weeks.

“Supporters of the bill recognize that working people need to be able to stay home when they’re sick, take care of themselves and their loved ones, and self-quarantine when needed without putting their pay, their job, or their economic survival at risk,” Debra L. Ness, president of National Partnership for Women and Families, said in a statement this month.

When the temporary changes end on Dec. 31, business groups such as the NFIB will continue to press against any kind of permanent program, Mr. Denlinger said. The cost is an “amazing burden,” and the mandates are inflexible for small workplaces, he said.

“Under normal times, with normal business operations, the same concerns that small business owners have always had regarding paid family leave will resurface,” he said.