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Mandatory Paid Sick Leave Fails In N.H. House

Allegra Boverman
/
NHPR

The New Hampshire House has voted down a bill in a 2-1 margin Thursday that would mandate paid sick leave.

Under the measure, businesses with 15 or more employers would be forced to offer workers 40 hours of paid sick leave annually.  

Republican Len Turcotte of Barrington said mandatory sick leave would only lead to harmful regulatory policies for employers.

“Employee contracts between an employer and an employee is an agreement that is freely reached and should be reached between the two parties without bureaucratic inference,” Turcotte his fellow colleagues.

But Democrat Mary Gile of Concord argued that not enough businesses offer such benefits to their employees.

“There are an estimated 250,000 New Hampshire workers or 47% of the New Hampshire workforce who lack paid sick leave,” Gile said. 

Last November Massachusetts voters chose to adopt a similar measure through a ballot-initiative.   

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