Ohio Chamber against Healthy Families Act

OTTAWA - It's labeled as the "Healthy Families Act" but Tony Fiore with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce said it's anything but healthy for the state of Ohio.

Speaking to more than 60 members of the Ottawa-area Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, Fiore said the proposal would most likely be on the November ballot and is a mandated paid-sick-leave proposal.

"If we approve this issue we will be the first state in the United States to have a mandated paid-sick-leave law," Fiore said. He said with unemployment rates rising, this additional burden on employers would most likely drive more jobs out of state. Fiore said this additional regulation could stifle job creation and business expansion and mean employers would locate in other states.

"It may sound good but from a practical point it is not a good thing," Fiore said.

The proposed Healthy Families Act mandates seven paid sick days annually for full-time employees and a pro-rated amount for part-time employees. The law applies to all employers with 25 or more employees.

It also says leave can be taken one hour at a time, or in the smallest increment used to track employee time.

Fiore said this means an employee could leave an hour early each Friday claiming "sick" time and there would be no recourse for the employer to stop this. Medical certification for "sick time'" would not be required unless the leave exceeds more than three consecutive workdays.

"This is not about good policy," Fiore said. "It's about politics." He said the proposal was introduced by the Service Employee Interaction Union as a political way to drive more Democrats to the November ballot.

"The Ohio Chamber of Commerce is not against paid sick leave," Fiore said. "They are against mandated paid sick leave. Many companies already have their own sick leave policies in place."

Fiore is the director of Union and Labor Resources, Ohio Chamber of Commerce. In a previous meeting Ottawa-area Chamber of Commerce approved a resolution opposing the Healthy Families Act.