In the first sign that not all local businesses are in favor of the "compromise" mandatory paid sick leave proposal introduced yesterday, the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce just announced that they "did not endorse the eventual proposal and maintain that it would hurt employers and would not provide employees with the overall benefits packages that they desire." Specifically, Chamber VP George Allen said, the proposal moves forward on paid sick leave too quickly and would hurt small businesses in a down economy.

The proposal would not go into effect for six months to a year, depending on the size of business, and small businesses (those with fewer than 250 employees) would have six months to come into compliance with the law. Additionally, as we reported yesterday, the compromise proposal includes numerous concessions to smaller businesses that were not in the original proposal. Under the compromise, employees at smaller firms would get less sick leave, and their sick leave would accrue more slowly, than those at larger firms; they would have the option of trading shifts with coworkers instead of taking paid time off; and they would have to be on the job for six full months before their sick-leave benefits would kick in (larger employers' workers would only have to wait three months).

The Chamber is planning a forum on the sick-leave law on Thursday, July 7, in the Seattle Times auditorium (1120 John St.) at 10:00 am.