Acting on a recommendation from its Government Affairs Council, the Regional Chamber’s Board of Directors voted Wednesday to oppose a law proposed by a coalition that would require Ohio businesses with more than 25 employees to provide seven days of paid sick leave a year for full-time employees. 

Tom Humphries, Regional Chamber president/CEO, said that mandating paid sick leave in Ohio is another attempt to make Ohio unfriendly to business and the creation of new jobs in the state. He said that the Chamber opposes state initiatives that restrict an employer's ability to design and implement employee benefit plans.

“We believe that any benefit offered to any employee should be offered at the discretion of the employer or through the collective bargaining process,” Humphries said.

The coalition, Ohioans for Healthy Families, filed petitions with the Ohio Secretary of State with at least 250,000 voter signatures on behalf of an initiated bill, the Health Families Act. Earlier this month, the Secretary of State certified that the coalition had enough valid signatures of registered voters to have the proposed statute introduced in the General Assembly.

Should legislators fail to enact the bill within the next four months, advocates will have the opportunity to gather additional signatures to place the measure on the Nov. 4 ballot.

The measure would require that companies give full-time workers (those working 30 or more hours per week) seven paid sick days per year. Part-time employees (those working less than 30 hours) would earn a pro-rated number.

Employers would also be prohibited from eliminating or reducing existing leave policies to comply with the provisions of the proposed law.