12.08.17

By: Andrew Metcalf
Source: Bethesda Beat

Politics Roundup: Montgomery Council President Speaks Out Against Republican Sick Leave Proposal on Capitol Hill

Riemer promotes county’s paid sick and family leave law on Capitol Hill

Montgomery County Council President Hans Riemer testified Wednesday during a U.S. House of Representatives’ subcommittee meeting against a new Republican-sponsored bill that could preempt the county’s new sick and paid leave law.

The National Women’s Law Center has described HR4219, the bill introduced in November and dubbed “Workflex in the 21st Century,” as a way for employers to circumvent local and state paid sick and family leave laws.

Republican representatives during the subcommittee meeting Wednesday described the bill as a more simple way for businesses to offer flexible leave days without having to comply with a “patchwork” of state and local paid leave laws.

The Women’s Law Center described the bill as problematic because it would let employers decide “when and whether workers would be allowed to use paid time off to care for themselves or family members.”

Montgomery County’s law requires employers with five or more employees to provide workers with one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours an employee works, up to a maximum of 56 hours of earned paid sick leave annually.

Riemer said Wednesday that if Congress made a strong federal sick and family leave policy, fewer local and state governments would feel compelled to act. However, he told the representatives during the committee meeting that the if the bill put forth by the Republicans were to pass, it would reduce the rights given to Montgomery County employees in the county law by enabling local employers to circumvent the county law by complying with the less stringent federal requirements.

“A worker could easily end up with very little paid sick days, without even the right to claim them when they need it,” Riemer told the committee about the possible effects of passing the federal bill.

Another witness, Carrie Lukas, president of the Independent Women’s Forum, testified in favor of the bill by saying it would give employers, particularly small businesses, greater flexibility in making paid leave decisions. She said state and local paid leave requirements might have the unintended effect of pricing low-income individuals out of jobs because some businesses might not be able to comply with them.

Democratic representatives who participated in the panel advocated instead for a different House bill—the Healthy Families Act, HR1516—that would establish a federal paid leave baseline. The bill would require employers with 15 or more employers to provide 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, up to 56 hours per year—a policy that closely aligns with the county law, although the employee threshold is higher in the county version.

Riemer, a Democrat, said he doesn’t think the Republican legislation will gain support because he believes Americans are seeking more rights to paid sick and family leave, but he hoped the Democrats’ bill moves forward.

“The Democrats’ bill that they are championing is quite similar to ours,” Riemer said. “I think the basic point is the county’s law is a workable national standard.”