HARTFORD, Conn. — State lawmakers are trying to bring paid sick leave to all private-sector workers across Connecticut.
State Sen. Julie Kushner (D-24) said the current law is just "not good enough" for Connecticut and urged other lawmakers to pass the expansion on Friday.
Currently, the state's 13-year-old paid sick leave law applies only to private-sector employers with more than 50 employees, mostly in "service worker" jobs, which is about 12% of the state's entire private-sector workforce.
This new legislation will be modeled after a similar expansion bill last year that did not make it out of the Senate.
If Connecticut were to pass this law, it'd join only eight other states and Washington D.C.: Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Vermont and Washington.
Kushner, who is Senate Chair of the Labor and Public Employees Committee, said that the current law is "horribly outdated" when compared to other states and that paid sick days are a necessity for working families.
"[...]Illnesses happen very frequently," said Kushner on Friday. "Whether it's your kid, your parent, or yourself -- everyone should be able to take care of themselves."
The new legislation would cover all private sector workers in all occupations, meaning it will impact more than 1.6 million workers.
Advocates said expanding the law is a needed change in our state.
"Everybody gets sick; everyone deserves the time to care for themselves or their loved ones no matter what kind of job they have or if they work full-time or part-time," said Janee Woods Weber with She Leads Justice.
Liz Ceppos, owner of Cross-Culture Kombucha in Danbury, said that there are a lot of costs that go into a business, but valuing employees so they can "stick around and grow with you" was important and that paid time off is a "very easy thing to offer."
"As a small-business owner with fewer than 10 employees, paid time off is one of the only benefits that I can easily afford to offer my employees, versus health insurance or a 401K," Ceppos said. "It's very important to my employees and it's very valued by them. It's something I have always offered.
Lawmakers believe this is the year they will get this legislation passed in the state Senate and the House.
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Lindsey Kane is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at Lkane@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
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