I am a small business owner and I am writing to support LD 1665, the paid sick days bill. I run a child-care business out of my home and have one employee. I charge by the hour, specifically to encourage parents to keep their sick children home. All the other child-care homes and centers I know of charge whether or not a child is out sick. This policy encourages parents to bring their sick children to child care, since they have already paid for it. My business policy is designed to keep working families with children healthy and productive by creating an incentive for keeping sick children at home, thereby containing germs, and promoting rest and recuperation.

I support LD 1665 because it is another smart incentive for keeping sick workers and their children at home. No worker should be forced to go to work sick (or send their children to school sick) by fear of losing their job or needed income, thereby infecting others in a domino effect. And no matter who you are, you deserve to be able to go to the hospital, grocery store, bank, post office, a restaurant or any business, and utilize services by workers who aren’t sick. To keep the communities of Maine healthy, productive and working, all employees must have the right to earn and use paid sick days.

Melanie Collins
Falmouth