MANDATORY SICK LEAVE BILL DIES IN SENATE
California employers can breathe a sigh of relief today knowing that AB 2716, the mandatory sick leave bill, has died in the Senate Appropriations Committee. This bill, which provided that all full and part time employees who work in California for at least seven days in a calendar year would earn mandatory sick leave, passed through the California Assembly in May. See our May 29 entry (under New Laws and Legislation) for details. A study by the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation had predicted the loss of approximately 370,000 jobs within five years in California should Assembly Bill 2716 become law.
The decision by the Committee was likely motivated by Senate analysis estimating that implementing and enforcing AB 2716 would have cost the state nearly $900,000 next year. This number could have ballooned to millions if the state were ordered to reimburse counties for the sick leave of workers providing in-home services for the aged, blind and disabled. However, assemblywoman Fiona Ma has vowed to reintroduce the bill next year.