Mandating 10 paid sick days presumes all small businesses have the endless resources and the capacity of large banks — they don\u0027t. Read more.
As of last week, federally regulated employers including, for example, small inter-provincial bus and trucking companies, will have to provide a minimum of 10 paid sick days per year to their employees. The policy is well intended but it is not free and it will have negative consequences for many businesses.Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
small businesses are still struggling to recover from the pandemic. Over half are yet to return to their pre-pandemic revenues, while 58 per cent still carry pandemic-related debt averaging around $114,000. What they need is cost relief, not cost increases.Article content Owners of small businesses do understand how important it is for their employees not to work sick and to work in a safe environment. In fact, the work environment in a small business is often like a family. People help each other and find solutions to each other’s problems. They can show greater flexibility around leave and provide for more informal arrangements than many larger institutional structures.
But mandating 10 paid sick days presumes all small businesses have the endless resources and the capacity of large banks, for example, or governments, for that matter. They don’t. Small firms can’t pass costs on to customers without affecting their competitiveness with larger firms. Unforeseen absences can also affect productivity and service offerings and are harder to manage for small businesses. If a firm with 10 employees has an absence, that represents 10 per cent of its workforce.
Small businesses’ financial resources are not unlimited. Having laid down the law of 10 paid sick days for employers under federal jurisdiction, the government should provide compensation or reduce the overall tax burden for small businesses.
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