Posted on: Friday, May 2, 2003

Lingle allows sick leave for family to become law

Advertiser Staff

Employers must allow employees up to 10 days of sick leave per year to care for family members, under a new law passed yesterday.

Gov. Linda Lingle allowed House Bill 389 to become law without her signature, saying it was "a tough call for me."

The new law, which also allows for collective bargaining agreements to authorize more than 10 days of family leave, applies to employers who have at least 100 employees and who already provide paid sick leave.

The bill was hailed by labor officials and opposed by business advocates.

"I think the intention of it is very good and something I would always encourage employers to do, but I did have concerns about it being another mandate on businesses," Lingle said.

"However, it does only affect businesses of 100 or more employees so it doesn't affect our small business community. These businesses of 100 or more make up about two percent of business in our state but they do have a very large percentage of our employees."

She said she believes the bill is "a reasonable balance between the need for a strong economy and the desire to preserve the family values that make Hawai'i so special."