Supporters of the Family and Medical Leave Act are gearing up for another campaign in New Mexico, aiming to introduce legislation that would mandate paid family leave for workers in the state. While proponents, led by state Rep. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos), claim such a policy is essential for the well-being of employees, it’s a killer for small businesses that hire these employees.
A previous version of this bill died early this year during the 2023 Legislative Session, with Democrats and Republicans voting to kill the extreme legislation that would cripple small businesses.
The proposed legislation seeks to guarantee employees paid time off to address personal or family health issues, provide care for a newborn, or handle other family-related matters. Advocates claim that this initiative promotes work-life balance and supports families during critical times. However, critics argue that the policy, if implemented, could impose a significant burden on small businesses already grappling with economic challenges. Troubles for small businesses have only been exacerbated by increased inflation.
According to a report from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), such mandates can strain small businesses, particularly those with limited resources. The NFIB contends that the financial burden of paid family leave may lead to increased operational costs, potentially forcing some small businesses to scale back operations or even close their doors.
In addition to concerns over financial implications, opponents argue that mandated paid family leave may disrupt business operations, especially for smaller companies with fewer employees. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, emphasizes that compliance with family leave mandates can be challenging for businesses with limited staffing, potentially resulting in decreased productivity and competitiveness.
While supporters emphasize the societal benefits of paid family leave, critics underscore the importance of considering the very real negative repercussions for small businesses.
DEMOCRATS – Stuck on Stupid! They keep on trying till their lemmings fall into place. Most of their ideas are based on their “Feelings.”
The ends justify the means.
The Democrats do not care for the people of NM. It’s time for NM to open their eyes to the stupidity and corruption of the so called leaders and vote them out of office and put someone in that loves this state and America. And as for MLG, well she so needs to be impeached and removed from office. And I am sure the corruption runs deeper than anyone realizes.
Let’s put them all out on the street and tell them to start a small business in NM. Then they will discover the rest of the story. I have been a small business owner in NM for 40 years and each year there are more and more regulation to impede your success and profit.
Just more socialist cradle-to -grave care that luis incompatible with capitalism.
While this legislation sounds good, in reality it just keeps New Mexicans stuck in these jobs. Why? There’s no motivation to better oneself to get better education for a higher paying job, since these additional tax payer paid “benefits” are put in place. Democrats through psychological manipulation keep the people down. Smh
Why not create a FMLA insurance policy that employees could opt into to cover them when they need to take time off work for covered issues. People can take it or not. Just something to think about discuss.
Your suggestion is the only coherent response to this article.
Let’s hope it goes down again.
I have to agree with time off for dealing with family crisis. The person you employ may be the head of household and the only one who can deal with the family emergency.
If their business has no way to take care of their employees, then their business model is lacking
Trick Leave has been defeated multiple times in multiple efforts.
I remember the day i got a job with benefits. I called everyone in my family and said, “I’m going to make it!” This was an achievement of mine, a goal I wanted to aspire to.
Why do they want to take that achievement away from people? Why don’t people aspire to better employment through their own work and accomplishments, rather than relying on Govt to create a false “minimum wage” and false benefits through legislation that doesn’t work?
Meanwhile, the #CultureOfDependency grows, and the people of NM suffer.