Ohio Healthy Families Act Will Not Appear On November Ballot

Ohioans will not vote in November on whether certain Ohio employers must provide seven sick days annually to their employees.  The Ohio Healthy Family Campaign, the coalition of more than 220 organizations including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) that had backed the Ohio Healthy Families Act, will ask Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to remove the proposed legislation from the Ohio November 4th ballot.  Proponents of the Ohio Healthy Families Act acquired enough signatures last month to get the proposed legislation on the November ballot.

The Ohio Healthy Families Act would have required employers with 25 or more employees to provide at least seven days of paid sick leave annually to employees working 30 or more hours and a pro rata amount of paid sick leave annually to all other employees.  Aside from the obvious negative impact for employers, the language of the proposed ballot initiative was ambiguous and left many unanswered questions.  If passed, Ohio would have been the first state to have such a law.  In fact, the California legislature struck down similar legislation in early August of this year.

The Ohio Healthy Family Campaign members have stated that they will work to approve passage of a similar federal law.  Ogletree Deakins will continue to monitor and keep you informed of activities related to this proposed legislation.

If you have any further questions, contact Barton Bixenstine or Wade Fricke of the Cleveland office at (216) 241-6100.

Note: This article appeared in the September 4, 2008 issue of the Ohio eAuthority.