CMTA Gets Veto on Bill Restricting Sick Leave

Romero

At the urging of the California Manufacturers and Technology Association (CMTA) and other employer organizations, Governor Gray Davis vetoed SB 1197 by Senator Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles). The bill would have prohibited an employer to count any sick leave taken by an employee to tend to a sick child, parent or spouse in any absence control program Current law permits an employee to use half of their annual accrued sick leave in a calendar year to attend to the illness of a child, parent, or spouse who would not otherwise qualify under the family medical leave act that only applies to serious health conditions. The provision covers brief illnesses such as colds, high temperature, sore throats etc., that are more likely to be associated with children and is less likely to involve physician or hospital care. However, employers opposed the bill because many employees take advantage of the easy threshold and use it to avoid workplace sanctions.

When employees don't show up or show up late for work, it negatively impacts production. In order to mitigate this problem, employers have implemented absentee control programs that may include counseling, suspension and termination. After the above provision became law, employers began to see a steady rise in the use and abuse of sick leave under this provision, so employers decided to include sick leave in their employee absence control programs in order to eliminate the abuse. SB 1197 would have eliminated that option and could have forced employers to take a more drastic action to resolve the problem.

In addition to insuring that production schedules are met, the main reason for an employer's absence policy is to provide a fair way to identify and deal with those employees who have trouble coming to work as scheduled and/or on time. Making a decision to sanction an employee under an absence control policy is not taken lightly by employers and must be based on sound reasoning. For example, if an employee's attendance records were examined and patterns of use involving sick leave were to show unusually high usage on Fridays, Mondays and holiday weekends and the employee were to declare that the absences were for family member sick leave purposes, no disciplinary action could be taken. In other instances, it is used to cover for tardiness that would otherwise be sanctioned under the employer absence control program by calling in just before the shift begins in order to start the shift late.

SB 1197 would have provided for new lawsuits for violation of the statute where an employer has an absence control policy. Consider that employers are not required to provide sick leave and the bill would only apply to those employers who voluntarily provide sick leave for their employees. CMTA discussed with legislators the counter-productive nature of restricting an employer's ability to manage a voluntarily provided benefit. When laws become overly restrictive or very difficult to comply with and the employer is facing sanctions for violations, it provides a strong incentive for the employer to simply eliminate their sick leave program.

CMTA believes that it would be poor public policy to protect those employees who have trouble getting to work under SB 1197 and could end up eliminating the benefit for all employees. CMTA applauds Governor Davis's veto of the bill.