What is being proposed?
The proposal mandates that employers within the City & County
of Denver provide paid sick and safe time leave to all employees
(including part-time and temporary employees).
- Employers must provide one-hour of paid sick and safe time leave for every 30 hours worked.
- Businesses with 10 or more employees must provide up to 9 days (72 hours) of sick and safe time annually.
- Businesses with fewer than 10 employees must provide up to 5 days (40 hours) of sick and safe time per year.
- Employees must only work 40 hours per year to be eligible.
- U.S. government and State of Colorado employees are exempted.
How would this be enforced?
Denver's Agency for Human Rights and Community Relations will be responsible for coordinating implementation and enforcement. The Agency, with only eight employees, is granted broad powers to adopt rules and procedures for enforcement. Why should you oppose this proposal?
The vaguely-worded initiative singles out Denver businesses and will likely cost local jobs and stifle economic recovery. The reasons to oppose this are numerous, including: >Too costly - Mandatory paid time off increases labor costs and places Denver business at a competitive disadvantage. In addition to increasing payroll costs, mandated paid sick leave will create scheduling problems and encourage absenteeism.
>In addition, the initiative would have a significant bureaucratic impact on employers by requiring them to create a new system to track accruals of paid sick leave time.
>Wrong idea, wrong time - Colorado's fragile economy is just getting started again - our focus should be putting people back to work. Adding increased financial burdens may force employers to cut employees or reduce hours. >A solution in search of a problem - Denver businesses already provide some of the best wages, health care and leave benefits in the region. We don't need more government mandates. >Difficult to enforce - At a time of dramatic city budget cuts, this proposal forces Denver to use scarce resources to administer and enforce these new requirements. >Guilty until proven innocent - If an employee files a complaint against their employer, the employer is presumed guilty unless the complaint is contested and proven otherwise. From Keep Denver Competitive Campaign (www..keepdenvercompetitive.com) | 
