Market Update: Roanoke small-business owners discuss the need for paid leave legislation – Full Analysis

Virginia lawmakers passed legislation on March 13 establishing a statewide family and medical leave system. Three Roanoke small-business owners say the legislation would benefit employers and employees alike.

If signed into law by Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger — who has endorsed the proposal — the measure would provide workers with up to 12 weeks of leave, paid at 80% of their regular wage for most individuals, covered by additional payroll taxes paid by employers and employees. 

On March 9, Americans for Healthy Families, an advocacy organization that backs paid family and medical leave and other policies it says strengthen the health and economic security of American families, convened a roundtable in Roanoke on the need for paid leave. Three small-business owners and former Democratic Rep. Tom Perriello, who is running for Congress, participated.

After the discussion, the small-business owners each spoke with the Virginia Independent about why they support the legislation.

Amelia Ammann, owner of Evie’s Bistro and Bakery, which employs 25 people, said it is difficult for the food service industry when people need leave. “When somebody needs to take time off, everybody else in the restaurant needs to rally and cover all of the bases so that person can take time off,” she said. “We’re just not set up financially to provide paid time off. Our business model is not set up for that at all, as a restaurant.”

Amman said a statewide system would allow employers to offer their workers a better deal: “I was really excited to hear about this bill, because that would be a way for us to give that to our employees, to allow them to take time off when there has been an illness, or a family member gets sick, or any of that.”

Celeste Hodges, who employs about 10 people at Motel Studios, a pottery and art space, said small businesses are falling through the cracks without a paid leave system. “I’m a parent and also a business owner, and I can see it from both sides, or the same side, that you want to be present for your family, but then, when we run a small business, everyone matters, because we’re such a small team. So just having that option would be, honestly, business-saving.”

Hannah Kinder owns Sanctuary Kitchen Gardens, a one-person business dedicated to helping people build edible gardens, and also serves as director of operations and HR at Greener by Default, an international nonprofit organization. 

She said Greener by Default has about 22 employees across multiple states and is facing challenges as its employees deal with health issues. Those based in California, Illinois, New York, and Oregon have paid leave under state law, while those in North Carolina and Virginia do not. “For our staff in the states that don’t offer that, it’s a very different scenario, and they’re already entering this frightening diagnosis, an unknown path ahead with their treatment,” Kinder said. “And now, Am I going to get paid? How am I going to make my bills and pay them in time? So that becomes a whole nother level of trauma for them.”

Kinder said: “It makes me, honestly, get emotional. … Sickness doesn’t discriminate against which state you live in, and just because you live in a state that doesn’t offer these types of benefits, that’s not going to protect you from an extended illness. And so the thought that this is even on the table, and as far as it is, and looking hopefully like it’s going to be passed, it really is a huge game changer, and it does offer so many more options for staff, and it enables us to take care of our staff in the way that we would want to, through very small contributions from us and through their paycheck, and to feed into that system to collectively offer that — not only to our staff, but to other citizens of Virginia, other people living in the state and our community that need these types of paid leave.”

Critics of the legislation say they oppose it because of its cost. State Senate Republican Leader Ryan McDougle said during floor debate in February: “There’s certainly some benefits to this program, but employees and employers are going to pay. They’re going to pay a tax to get it. This is not free; this is going to cost people, and this is going to cost people money out of their paycheck, whether they use the program or do not use the program.”

Rhena Hicks, co-executive director of the nonprofit organization Freedom Virginia, which has worked to pass the family and medical leave bill, told the Virginia Independent that an employee earning $50,000 per year would pay about $5 per biweekly paycheck and likened it to the existing unemployment insurance system. 

“You pay for it so that if you need to do that, you can,” Hicks said. “And this is the same concept of no one should be choosing between caring for their loved ones or themselves and then risk losing their livelihood and their job and their paycheck for that. So it’s a very small contribution from the employer and the employee to give them that kind of peace of mind.”

While Virginia’s bills appear headed for approval this year, federal paid family and medical leave legislation is stalled in committee in the Republican-led Congress.The FAMILY Act, sponsored by New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand in the Senate and Connecticut Democrat Rosa DeLauro in the House, would similarly use payroll taxes to guarantee 12 weeks of partially paid leave.

Kinder said having a federal system in place would be even better for employers who have employees in multiple states. “It’s monumental,” she said. “To have this available to everyone living in the United States would be such a mark of progress. And I don’t think it even needs to be a partisan issue, to want to take care of each other.”