Ohio SHRM Government Affairs Issue Toolkit

1. Ohio SHRM Government Affairs Issue Toolkit Ohio Healthy Families Act

2. Ohio Healthy Families Act Table of Contents Fact Sheets Pages 1-2 Status & Call to Action Page 3 Talking Points for letter writing Pages 4-5

3. Ohio Healthy Families Act- Fact Sheet • Applies to all Ohio employers with 25 or more employees • Guarantees full-time employees (30+ hrs./week) 7 days of paid sick leave annually (Part-time employees will receive a prorated amount). • Employees would be able to carry over up to 7 paid sick days each year, with no limit as to the total bank of sick days. • Like intermittent FMLA, employers must track sick leave in the smallest increment allowed by the employers payroll system. • Employees can use sick leave for an absence that is the result of: • physical or mental illness • injury • medical condition • obtaining professional medical diagnosis • preventative medical care • Sick leave can also be taken for a child, parent (including in-laws), or spouse who has any of the above conditions. 1

4. Ohio Healthy Families Act- Fact Sheet • Sick days would begin to accumulate immediately. New employees can use sick days after 90 days of employment. • Employers would not be able to require medical certification for sick leave unless the absence is more than three consecutive work days. • After the Act is enacted employers would not be able to reduce existing vacation or PTO policies in order to comply with the act. 2

5. Ohio Healthy Families Act- Status & Call to Action STATUS: • The General Assembly has until the end of April to act on the petition that was submitted by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). • If the General Assembly fails to act, the SEIU will need to gather 120,000 signatures to place the issue on the November Ballot. CALL TO ACTION: • Attend the Ohio Legislative Conference on April 22nd to meet with state legislators on the issue and learn from top Ohio companies what you can do to educate your workforce on the issue. • Educate HR Professionals in your chapters on the issue and encourage them to write their state legislators using the talking points included in the kit. • Urge your members to begin preparing their organizations for action should the legislation go to the ballot in November. • Use the fact sheets and talking points in the toolkit to include in newsletter articles for your chapters. 3

6. Ohio Healthy Families Act- Talking Points • Limits the flexibility employers have to design compensation and benefit packages tailored for the unique needs of their employee population. Paid leave is one of the many benefits that employers voluntarily provide to recruit and retain employees, as well as promote employee wellness and morale. HR Professionals strive to offer the right mix of benefits to fit the specific needs of their employees. A recent survey conducted by SHRM indicated that 55% of HR Professionals responded that their organizations offered paid sick leave as part of a paid time off plan (sick, vacation and personal days all in one plan), an 37% offered sick leave in a separate plan. • Mandated paid leave would come at a significant cost to employers, and these costs would have to be made up elsewhere . There is a provision written into the legislation that prohibits employers from reducing existing vacation or PTO policies in order to comply with the act once passed. To offset the costs employers may be required to make wage or benefit reductions. While the intentions behind the proposal benefit employees there are many unintended consequences that can result from such mandates that do not benefit employees. 4

7. Ohio Healthy Families Act- Talking Points • Mandating paid leave may be detrimental to families and their changing needs. As Baby Boomers retire from the workforce and Generation Y enters into the workforce, employees needs will change. Many employers and non-profit organizations are proactively addressing this by providing flexible benefit plans that offer choices to employees as they go through the various stages of life (i.e. cafeteria benefit plans, flexible work hours, and paid time off programs). The Ohio Healthy Families Act mandates paid sick leave which will remove the choices that many responsible people take advantage of today or will limit their choices as their work/life balance needs change over time. • It duplicates and/or conflicts with existing state and federal family leave laws, creating more confusion and risk of liability for employers trying to comply with the laws. The FMLA mandates up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period for certain medical and family reasons. A recent survey conducted by SHRM indicated 44% of employers surveyed offer job-protected leave beyond what is required by the FMLA. • The proposal could deter organizations from locating their offices in Ohio. There are no other states in the US who have adopted such a policy, and only the city of San Francisco currently has a policy like the Ohio Healthy Families Act. Ohio's big cities have endured vast population and job losses and Ohio’s economy is suffering as a result. Businesses moving into Ohio are a key component to strong economic development and mandating employer benefits such as paid leave is certain to be a deterrent for organizations looking to move into the state. 5