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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
 Posted - 10/20/2007 : 1:13:48 PM
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Today I was out shopping and when going back to the car in the parking lot, a lady approached me with a clipboard in her hand. She asked if I was a registered voter (so I put 2 and 2 together and figured she had a petition), to which I replied in the affirmative. She told me they were circulating a petition in attempt to get the State of Ohio to mandate that employers give 7 days of paid sick leave per year to all employees. Not wanting to sign my name to something that could turn out to be different that what I thought it was, I asked her, "Could you please tell me the language of your proposed legislation?"
She looked at me very quizzically...hesitated for quite a while and then said to me, "Why, English, of course!"
I did not sign her petition.
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Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
Edited by - wcerto on 10/20/2007 1:30:40 PM |
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2007 : 8:47:45 PM
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Love it....
It's like going to a train station and asking for a round trip ticket ... to here.
Wanda, you know those are paid people who have no personal connection to their petitions. Just trying to make a bit of cash. |
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Trev
Lokahi
United Kingdom
265 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2007 : 06:27:20 AM
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| 7 days? A year? I don't think that's much to ask, personally. What happens if you're ill for longer than that? |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2007 : 10:43:22 AM
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Trev, my friend...most workers here in the U.S. do not get paid sick days. I was fortunate with a job workiing for the U.S. federal government to get 4 hours of sick leave each two weeks, and I could build them up as long as I wanted to. After 28 years of service, two pregnancies, a gall-bladder surgery, and various other sundry health problems, I still retired with almost 900 hours of sick leave to my credit. On the other hand, my husband, Paul, who works for the local transit authority as a bus body repairman, gets only 5 days per year and gets in trouble if he uses them.
Many other folks I know get nothing. My eldest daughter teaches day care and gets no paid sick days. In a career field where she is exposed to the wee bairns with every sniffle and bug known to man to share, or the fact that she could make the tikes ill, she cannot afford on the paltry sum they pay to take off when she is ill herself.
Many jobs that pay by the hour, like retail for instance, are part-time jobs, and the workers get no benefits whatsoever...no medical insurance and for sure no paid sick days.
The US government has mandated 13 days of "family leave" per year for all workers in businesses having a certain threshhold number of employees. This family leave can be used if the person is ill him or herself or in order to care for a family member; however, the family medical leave does not have to be paid. In Paul's case, he had to exhaust all of his vacation time and paid sick leave first before they would offer leave under the FMLA. He was off last year due to one of those icky staph infections from Thanksgiviing until 1st of February.
The US does not have the right priorities when it comes to taking care of employees or permitting the employees to take care of themselves and the health and well being of their families.
And the petition story is actual factual. You couldn't make up such a dumb story. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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NANI
Lokahi
USA
292 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2007 : 11:48:17 AM
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| Yes and if you are self employed well then you are totally out of luck in the sek leave as well as the paid vacation part in fact for us to take a day off we pay money because it would not be fair to our employees to ask them to take time off just because we are so we have to not only lose money cause no money comes in when we are not there to work but also lose because we have to pay employees to be at work even though we are not there. Running a business is NOT what I signed on for but well it sort of came with the territory. Now if the goverment would just stay out of it and stop passing unfunded mandates that WE pay for butwell I have not seen any pigs flying yet either. |
"A hui hou kakou, malama pono".
Nancy |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2007 : 12:19:19 PM
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Well, as I said, the FMLA does not require paid leave. It only requires that the employee be permitted 13 days time off for instances which fit those described in the statute.
Like if your kid is sick and you have to stay home with the kid. Once when our girls were little, Paul took off to stay home with one of the girls who was sick. He called his boss and told him he needed a day off because the daughter was sick. Because he said that, he got counted for an unexcused absence and got chewed out. If he had fibbed and said HE was sick, he would have least got paid, but he would be lying. They folks at his work thought he was crazy for NOT lying. Even bosses.
Tis a dog eat dog world out there. Glad I can eat bon-bons now instead of dog. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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Trev
Lokahi
United Kingdom
265 Posts |
Posted - 10/23/2007 : 01:43:40 AM
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| Wow, I had no idea it was that bad over there. Sorry to hear about this. I hope you all stay well & healthy! |
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rendesvous1840
Ha`aha`a
USA
1055 Posts |
Posted - 10/23/2007 : 5:01:10 PM
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Actually, we didn't have sick leave back then, so I wouldn't have been paid. But the difference would have been an excused absence versus unexcused. You got fired for 4 unexcused in a year, or ten excused. I worried about that attendance stuff a lot. One year I took someone to the Dr every week for almost 3 months. Wanda had surgery, and Strep seemed to come with the newspaper. After several bouts of strep, Wanda read that pets could carry it. We got the dog and cat tested,and at least one of them had it. That finally ended the strep stuff. When our eldest daughter started working in child day care, we all seemed to have constant colds & such. She eventually moved out, and the rest of us got our health back.
Paul |
"A master banjo player isn't the person who can pick the most notes.It's the person who can touch the most hearts." Patrick Costello |
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LovinLK
Lokahi
USA
112 Posts |
Posted - 10/23/2007 : 6:07:07 PM
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I'm having a rough time trying to find a job, even as a consultant, in a very slow and disappointing job market. When you're a consultant working through a contract house, you get no paid vacation, no healthcare, no sick leave, no 401K, no paid holidays, no nothing ... and these days they're not even paying a decent hourly to cover all of what you don't get. I've been out of work for the last 4 months and have only had a few nibbles. Luckily I don't get sick very often but it just isn't fair. I had an interview yesterday and know I'm the most qualified but who knows who they'll pick.
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Lovin' Lee is my favorite pasttime!!
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Edited by - LovinLK on 10/23/2007 6:07:22 PM |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
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Hula Rider
Lokahi
USA
215 Posts |
Posted - 10/25/2007 : 03:49:52 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by wcerto
Today I was out shopping and when going back to the car in the parking lot, a lady approached me with a clipboard in her hand. She asked if I was a registered voter (so I put 2 and 2 together and figured she had a petition), to which I replied in the affirmative. She told me they were circulating a petition in attempt to get the State of Ohio to mandate that employers give 7 days of paid sick leave per year to all employees. Not wanting to sign my name to something that could turn out to be different that what I thought it was, I asked her, "Could you please tell me the language of your proposed legislation?"
She looked at me very quizzically...hesitated for quite a while and then said to me, "Why, English, of course!"
Yep - the one I get handed is, "Oh, it's too complicated for you to understand, I already read it. You just need to sign here."
I don't sign those, either.
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