OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — We are just over 80 days away from election day and we already know one initiative that will be on the ballot in November, Paid Sick Leave. Reporter Molly Hudson talked with the Jo Giles, Executive Director of the Women's Fund of Omaha about this initiative and a local business advocating for this proposed change.
- Local company Turner Technology has been offering paid leave for years.
- If passed, in November the initiative would establish a minimum requirement for paid sick leave.
- Workers at a company with over 20 employees could earn up to 7 working days.
- Workers at a company with fewer than 20 employees could earn up to 5 working days.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
For Turner Technology, it's about company culture.
"We believe you treat people well, it comes back to you, in terms of how they work in your environment, how your customers get treated," said Gary Bren, managing partner of Turner Technology.
This local company has been around since the 90's and is made up of 22 employees split between two locations. Bren says they've been offering paid leave for years.
"From my perspective, my wife and I couldn't have children, um this is my family and so I look at each one of them and look at the opportunities and challenges they have and make sure they are successful," Bren said.
On Tuesday the team behind the paid sick leave initiative learned it would be on the ballot in November.
"To get that official verification that we will be on the ballot is just a culmination of more than a year of work of this grassroots coalition," said Jo Giles, executive director of the Women's Fund of Omaha.
If it passes, the ballot initiative would establish a minimum requirement for paid sick leave for Nebraska employees. It depends on the company size -- for companies larger than 20 employees, workers can earn up to 7 working days. For companies with fewer than 20 employees, employees can earn up to 5 working days.
"The other thing that is really important is that if it passes in November that it is until October 25th when the implementation starts," Giles said.
Giles says approval of this initiative in November would benefit 250,000 working Nebraskans.
"We just feel like no worker should have to choose between earning and a paycheck and caring for themselves or their family members," Giles said.
And businesses like Turner Technology are advocating for this change.
"We can't do what we do without having our staff, our turnover rate is about a third of what the industry average is and the reason for that is because we do things like providing paid leave," Bren said.
While the initiative is officially on the ballot Giles says the work doesn't stop now.
