TOWN OF WALLKILL – Among the top concerns of business owners in New York in recent days are the proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour and enacting paid family leave.
They were the topics of discussion at the Thursday Orange County Chamber of Commerce breakfast in the Town of Wallkill. Kenneth Pokalsky, vice president of the Business Council of New York State briefed members on the potential impacts of both.
Pokalsky: “These are bottom line issues for employers …”
The minimum wage proposal would be implemented in seven increments through 2021. Pokalsky said this is a growing concern because it will also affect businesses that may not be thought of as employing minimum wage positions.
“Minimum wage proposal will impact a lot of employers that you don’t think about as minimum wage related because as you go to $15 per hour, that’s approaching the median wages in a lot of counties in New York State, particularly Upstate New York,” Pokalsky said. “So, a lot of employers in healthcare and manufacturing and retail and services would be directly or indirectly impacted by that.”
The paid family leave proposal would provide 12 weeks of guaranteed paid family leave and would also protect employees from facing termination for taking family time off. This will be an extension of an already existing disability benefits program, but would include covering issues such as adoption, maternity leave and leave to care for a family member.
Although there is concern from businesses about how to pay for insurers to cover these types of leave, which they would be obligated to do if the proposal goes through, it would also create an issue for businesses, said Pokalsky.
“The bigger issue for most employers is my ability to manage the loss of a key employee for 12 weeks and how do I backfill, how do I manage? I may get my own leave policy and this broader proposal may not make sense for my situation.”
As Pokalsky continues to travel the state and lobbying on behalf of about 60 chambers of commerce, he said it has become evident that these are issues are so important to various business communities because they are ones that will affect their profits and losses.
“These are bottom line issues for employers who, at the end of the day, have to turn a profit to keep employing people,” he said. “So, when you talk about bottom line issues for employers, they definitely are concerned about how am I going to be able to accommodate this if this comes off?”
