TAMPA, Fla. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state health departments and even some employers are telling workers who might have been exposed to COVID-19 coronavirus to self-quarantine for 14 days.
But not everyone can afford to do that.
Democrats in Washington, D.C., now are pushing for a law that would encourage people to follow self-isolation orders by requiring employers, regardless of the business size, to provide up to two weeks of paid sick leave in the event of a public health emergency.
The idea is getting a divided reaction.
If you speak with Sara Stonecipher, who for 10 years has owned Misred Outfitters, a small boutique clothing store on Saint Pete’s bustling Central Avenue, she’ll tell you it’s a concern.
Stonecipher says she wants her eight employees and her customers to be healthy, but if Congress passes a law mandating that she and other businesses her size pay their employees to self-quarantine for 14-days – there might not be a workplace to come back to.
“The reality of small businesses we’re operating on a very tight budget,” Stonecipher said. “If I had to pay two weeks of pay for all of my employees, it would put me out of business, unfortunately.”
Mandy Colon, who works as a server at a nearby restaurant, says a kind of law ensuring sick pay would sure provide peace of mind.
“I got to be paid. Yes. It’s a big deal if it’s paid or unpaid,” Colon said. “I mean, if I’m going to take two weeks off, I’ve got to at least have something to supplement that.
“If someone’s going to make me take two weeks off work. Then yeah, I got to get paid for it.”
Lawmakers who favor the bill point to labor statistics which show one out of every four workers have no access to paid sick leave. And two-thirds of those people are considered low-wage earners who can least afford to miss a paycheck.
Most small business owners in the area said if one or two of their employees had to self-isolate, they could probably cover it.
But imagine a scenario, they said, where a sick person had walked through their door and possibly contaminated the whole staff.
Business owners say if Congress is going to mandate that they essentially shut down for two weeks, there’s got to be a way to compensate them, too, suggesting, perhaps, payroll tax-cuts or low-cost small business loans.
“If you’re going to mandate that, especially for small businesses, there has to be a two-way street,” Stonecipher said. “They have to work with us somehow.”
The state of Florida has no laws mandating paid sick leave.
Under the federal government’s Family and Medical Leave Act, an eligible employee can take up to 12 weeks unpaid during a 12-month period to deal with a serious health condition or care for a family member or child.
Their job and benefits would be protected, but the time off is unpaid.
“I think it shows a good incentive that you care about your workers and the food that we are serving to other people. And so, I do think it’s very important,” Colon said.
“But who’s going to protect us? I don’t know,” Stonecipher said. “Again, I think it’s a two-way street. And I don’t know what that looks like. This a very big learning curve for everyone involved. And we’re trying to get caught up as quickly as possible.”
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