Strickland continues to push for a compromise to keep the proposed Healthy Families Act off the November ballot, but time is running out. The proposal would require businesses with 25 or more employees to give full-time workers at least seven paid sick days each year.
Supporters of the sick-day mandate, including the Service Employees International Union, will turn in signatures by August 6 to attempt to place the issue before voters. Strickland, who has concerns about the act's impact on Ohio businesses, has said he will continue trying to forge a compromise until Sept. 5, the deadline for pulling issues off the ballot.
The Legislature would have to approve any compromise before that date, but no session days are scheduled.
In the framework Strickland released Friday, many details remain up for negotiation, including the amount of sick time employees would receive. The proposed compromise would give employees hours of time, not days, because of business concerns that "days" was too vague.
The governor takes the side of business on a number of issues related to protecting against abuse of the sick-day policy.
He wants a compromise that allows only licensed medical professionals to be eligible to provide medical certification for an employee taking leave. Businesses had complained that the Healthy Families Act was vague and extensive on this issue, leading to potential abuse.
Strickland also wants a policy that would encourage employees to give notice when they are going to use leave and enables businesses to discipline those who repeatedly use accrued leave with little or no notice. Businesses had expressed concerns that the sick-day policy did nothing to stop employees from taking off with no notice.
Further, the governor wants businesses to be able to manage medical information so they can protect against fraud. Businesses were concerned that the sick-day policy prevented them from having access to medical information.
Complicating Strickland's efforts at a compromise is a divided response from businesses around the state. Some businesses enthusiastically responded to Strickland's entreaty that they work with the governor's office to reach a compromise. Others, however, felt that a compromise would essentially be handing supporters of the sick-day policy a victory without forcing them to get the necessary votes on the November ballot.
David Zanotti, president and chief executive of the conservative-leaning public policy organization Ohio Roundtable, criticized both the sick-day policy and Strickland for attempting to negotiate out of the public spotlight with 500 businesses he selected. He said Strickland has reservations about the policy and should therefore join the attempt to defeat it on the ballot.
"This measure takes away the right of negotiation on both the part of the company owner and the part of the employee, and seizes that right for the authority of the state," Zanotti said. "Let the chips fall where they may. Let's have the ballot debate."
John Popa, president and chief executive of Marlite, Inc., in Dover, told the governor's office in an e-mail that the Healthy Families Act is the worst business proposal he's seen in his career, and would likely force him to transfer production to plants outside Ohio. But he believes it's best to tackle the issue now before it gets on the ballot.
"Compromising on the language or acting before it gets to the ballot is critical," Popa wrote.
Dale Butland, a spokesman for the coalition promoting the Healthy Families Act, said the coalition appreciates the governor's efforts for a compromise and is willing to work with him.
"The problem that we've had is that when we did sit down with the business community a few months ago, their problem was not with this provision or that provision, but that they opposed mandated paid sick days period," Butland said.
