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Ohio Proposes Paid Sick Leave Legislation


Recently, House Bill 511 was introduced by state Rep. Christie Kuhns in the Ohio legislature which would provide paid sick leave for employees in the state.  

Under the proposed legislation, an employee would be able to receive family and medical leave insurance benefits for any reason for which an employee would otherwise qualify for unpaid leave under the Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA").  The question that always follows is who would fall under this proposal?  According to the current language in the bill, any employee who has worked for the employer for at least 680 hours in four of the past five completed calendar quarters would be covered.  The bill would enact a sliding scale of benefits for these covered employees based upon their income levels.  The range would go from 95% of an employee's average weekly wage for the lowest earners up to 66% for the highest.  

Others have noted that this legislation likely will not pass, given the Republican makeup of the state legislature who likely would not support the bill.  With that being said, this type of proposal gets the topic in discussion, and while it may not have the votes to succeed this legislative session, it could pave the way for similar legislation in the coming years.


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