Sick Leave Bill A Mistake

Component Sources International is a small manufacturer based in Westborough with close to 40 employees in Massachusetts.

Acquiring and retaining skilled employees is one of our main strategic objectives. As an organization, we face increasing difficulty competing against similar manufacturers in other states. We have been approached many times by other states to move our operations to a place where there are lower operating costs. We have strong ties to Massachusetts, and we wish to remain here.

But it is our belief that the state should not enact a law which dictates that employers provide paid sick time-off benefits to employees. It should be left to the employer and the employee to decide what is fair.

This legislation sends a clear message tha there is a political environment in this state that is not pro-business and that the state government will dictate health care benefits, sick time benefits and who knows what other benefits in the future.

A side effect of this proposed legislation could result in higher unemployment and higher taxes. As more companies choose to leave the state and fewer companies elect to establish new business in Massachusetts, the political environment succeeds in creating a smaller base from which to generate taxes.

There is a reason why only Milwaukee, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., have established the mandatory sick days legislation. It is anti-competitive. Not one state in the union has established this policy because they know in difficult times like these, state legislators should be doing everything they can to attract new businesses to their state.

Most employers in Massachusetts already provide paid sick time off and the ones who don’t are mainly small companies with fewer than 10 employees who cannot afford to implement a sick leave policy. These small companies represent the future of Massachusetts. Rather than supporting small business, this legislation will force companies to restructure paid time off benefits by either reducing paid vacation or paid holidays. Employees may feel that these mandated sick days are a paid time off benefit designed to be used in full, regardless of illness or need, because they are due “by law.” The increase in operating costs is one that most small businesses may be unable to absorb without threatening their existence.

Let’s do what is right for the companies of Massachusetts. Send a message to companies interested in opening biotech, high tech, manufacturing and other new technologies that the state welcomes employers and provides a free-market economy. Write your local state representative today and ask them to vote “no” on this proposed legislation. 

Christopher O’Neill is the CFO of Component Sources International in Westborough. He can be reached at coneill@compsources.com.