Nebraska members of the National Federation of Independent Businesses shared what the state’s new paid leave mandate means for their businesses. An amazing 98 percent of participants said the mandate will have a negative impact on their small businesses, according to NFIB’s annual survey.
“Our members confirmed that Nebraska’s paid leave mandate will do more harm than good,” said NFIB Nebraska State Director Ryan McIntosh.. “Small business owners are already dealing with federal issues like high costs and hiring issues. An overwhelming majority of participants in our survey agreed that regulating paid leave will only increase the burden. If lawmakers want Main Street businesses to continue to thrive, they must right this wrong and ease the pressure on small business owners.
NFIB supports pound 648introduced by Nebraska Senator Paul Strommen, which will effectively clean up some of the more unnecessary aspects of the paid leave mandate. Protects smaller small businesses by exempting those with 10 or fewer employees. The cleanup legislation would also exempt temporary and seasonal employees, as well as youth under 16, from accruing paid leave because they often do not work enough hours over the course of a year. Finally, the bill would eliminate the private right of action, which could promote frivolous lawsuits, resulting in greater burdens on small businesses.
The survey also found:
- seventy-six percent of participants offered paid leave to their employees before the mandate was implemented.
- fifty seven percent of participants said the mandate would increase their administrative burden and cost of doing business.