Detailed analysis of the petition
Status of the petition

On April 6, 2007, a petition was filed with the Ohio Attorney General to start the process of placing a new statute before the Ohio General Assembly and eventually, Ohio voters. The law, titled the Healthy Families Act, mirrors pending federal bills introduced by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT). The federal legislation would guarantee full-time employees at least seven days of paid sick leave each year and part-time employees a pro-rated amount of leave to care for themselves and their families' medical needs.

The proposed Ohio law differs only slightly from the pending federal legislation and is meant to supplement the Family and Medical Leave Act. Major provisions of the proposed Ohio law include a guarantee of seven paid sick days a year to full-time workers, and a pro-rated number of days for part-timers working 30 hours a week or 1560 hours annually. The proposed law would apply to all Ohio employers (as defined by the Ohio Fair Minimum Wage Amendment) who employ 25 or more employees. Major provisions of the proposed law are:

• Paid sick days can be used for an illness or physical or mental condition, to obtain a medical diagnosis, a related treatment, or preventive care, for the employee or employee's child, parent, or spouse.

• An employee may carry over up to 7 paid sick days each year.

• The employee must provide 7 days notice to the employer for any foreseeable leave. If the leave is not foreseeable, the notice must only be given as soon as practicable once the employee becomes aware of the need for leave.

• The employer may require a medical certification for sick leave of over three consecutive work days. The employee has 30 days into to provide the certification.

• All health information regarding the leave shall be treated as a confidential medical record and cannot be disclosed except to the "affected employee" or with the express permission of the "affected employee."

• Employers are required to post a summary of the Act in a conspicuous and accessible place of the employer and to maintain records documenting the hours worked by employees and paid sick leave taken by the employees for a 3 year period.

• Employers may not reduce or eliminate any leave in existence at the time of the Act's enactment regardless of the type of such leave in order to comply with the Act.

• Employers are forbidden from (a) discharging or discriminating against an employee for using this sick leave or for complaining about any unlawful practice under the Act; (b) using paid sick leave usage as a negative factor for evaluating employees or applicants for hiring, promotion or discipline; and (c) counting paid sick leave as an occurrence under a no-fault attendance policy.

At the federal level, ACORN, the AFL-CIO, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the National Partnership for Women and Families, and numerous other groups have supported the measure in Congress. In addition, passage of mandatory paid leave appears to be part of a national movement to enact similar issues at the local level in a number of key states, including Ohio..

For more information about this topic contact Jim Petrie or Maria Armstrong.