Voters resoundingly backed paid sick leave. Now lawmakers in 3 states
want to roll back the benefits
[April 30, 2025]
By DAVID A. LIEB, MARGERY A. BECK and BECKY BOHRER
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Voters in Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska were
asked last year whether they wanted to require employers to provide paid
sick leave to their workers. They overwhelmingly said yes.
Now some lawmakers in each of those states are trying to roll back the
benefits, citing concerns from businesses about costs.
The efforts mark the latest attempt by legislators to alter laws backed
by the voters they represent. In February, for example, Michigan enacted
revisions to a paid sick leave law initiated by voters seven years ago,
delaying the date when small businesses must comply and allowing a
longer period before new employees are eligible.
Though some voters are outraged, some lawmakers contend that citizen
activists who crafted the initiatives overlooked the realities of
running a business.
Restaurant owner Tim Hart, who employs about two dozen workers at his
steakhouse in Hannibal, Missouri, said the paid sick leave requirement
imposes a double financial hit because he must pay one person to stay
home and another to fill the shift.
“When this goes into effect, we very likely won’t survive,” said Hart,
who has urged the state Senate to halt the law.
The paid sick leave laws are set to kick in Thursday in Missouri, July 1
in Alaska and Oct. 1 in Nebraska.
McDonald's restaurant worker Richard Eiker is among those who stand to
benefit. He signed a petition putting the initiative on the Missouri
ballot and traveled recently from Kansas City to the state Capitol to
lobby lawmakers to let the law stand.
In 40 years on the job, Eiker has never received paid sick leave — not
even when he was struggling with a kidney stone.
“I just took some pain medication and just went into work anyway and
just worked past the pain,” Eiker said. “It would have been nice to have
stayed home.”
Lower-wage workers are less likely to get paid sick leave
Federal law requires many employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid
leave for personal or family medical issues. But there is no federal
mandate to pay for sick days.
Nonetheless, 79% of private-sector employees received paid sick leave
last year, according to the Department of Labor. Part-time workers were
significantly less likely to receive the benefit than their full-time
counterparts. And just 58% of employees in the bottom quarter of income
earners received paid sick leave, compared with 94% in the top quartile.
Though still discretionary for many employers, the number of states
mandating paid sick leave has grown significantly since Connecticut
enacted the first such law in 2012. Last year's ballot measures raised
the total to 18 states and the District of Columbia. Three additional
states require paid leave for any reason, without specifying sickness.
Many paid sick leave laws, including the ones in Alaska, Missouri and
Nebraska, apply to any employer with at least one worker. But some
states exempt the smallest businesses, with cutoffs ranging from five to
25 employees. The number of annual paid sick days also varies.
Missouri lawmaker wants it to be ‘less onerous’ for employers
On Tuesday the state Supreme Court upheld Missouri's paid sick leave law
against a challenge from business groups. But efforts to revise it
continue.
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Richard Eiker speaks in support of a strike by fast food workers
advocating for a $15 an hour minimum wage outside a McDonald's
restaurant in Kansas City, Mo., May 19, 2021. (Aditi Ramaswami/Missouri
Workers Center via AP)
In March, Republican House members passed legislation to repeal the paid
sick leave requirement. That was then blocked by minority-party
Democrats in the Senate. So Republicans are pushing an alternative that
would delay the law until later this year, exempt smaller businesses and
take away workers' ability to sue over alleged violations.
The intent is to “just make it a little less onerous on employers,” said
Republican state Sen. Mike Bernskoetter, a small business owner who is
backing the bill.
But many workers already have it tough, Democratic lawmakers said.
“When there’s people living paycheck to paycheck, just missing a little
bit of work can really put them behind,” Democratic state Sen. Patty
Lewis said.
Nebraska senator warns of ‘huge overstep’ by colleagues
Legislation pushed by Republican lawmakers in Nebraska state would carve
out exceptions from paid sick leave for 14- and-15-year-old employees,
temporary and seasonal agricultural workers and businesses with 10 or
fewer employees.
The legislation also would strip workers of the ability to sue employers
who retaliate against them for using paid sick leave.
Supporters of the revisions say they aim to protect small businesses
from higher costs. Opponents say they are essentially gutting the law.
“We’re talking about just whole swaths of the ballot language being
stricken by this,” state Sen. John Cavanaugh said during recent debate.
“That is a huge overstep by this Legislature to say that we know better
than the people who voted for this.”
Alaska labor leader foresees ‘long battle’ over voters' wishes
A bill by state Rep. Justin Ruffridge would exempt seasonal workers and
businesses with fewer than 50 employees from the sick leave requirement.
That could exclude many catering to Alaska's summer tourists.
Ruffridge, a member of the House’s Republican minority, said small
business owners should be able to choose whether to spend money on sick
leave benefits or other measures to grow their businesses.
Joelle Hall, president of the Alaska AFL-CIO, which supported the ballot
measure, doubts Ruffridge’s bill will gain traction in the final weeks
of this year's session.
But, she said, “I believe this is the beginning of a long battle to
protect the voters’ wishes from the wills and the whims of the
businesspeople who don’t want to pay sick days.”
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Beck reported from Lincoln, Nebraska, and Bohrer from Juneau, Alaska.
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