Paid Sick Leave Is On The Ballot In Red States

A growing number of liberal states have passed paid sick leave laws in recent years, assuring workers get paid time off to care for themselves or their loved ones when they’re ill. Now some conservative states might be getting in on the act, too.

Campaigns in Nebraska , Missouri and Alaska have secured enough signatures to put sick leave measures on their ballots this November. If voters approve them, the laws would let workers start accruing one hour of paid sick time for every 30 they work, capped at 56 hours per year at large employers and 40 at small ones.

More than a dozen states have similar mandates on their books, according to A Better Balance, a nonprofit advocate for fair and supportive workplaces. But none of those states are as red as Nebraska, Missouri or Alaska, all of which former President Donald Trump won handily in 2016 and 2020.

If the ballot measures succeed, it would demonstrate just how popular paid sick days are among the general public.

“What we’ve realized in talking to thousands of Nebraskans is that this is a really commonsense issue,” said Jo Giles, director of the Women’s Fund of Omaha, one of the advocacy groups backing the initiative in Nebraska. “Most people have been sick at some point in their working lives and have needed to take time off.”

Giles said the typical voter sympathizes with someone who has to choose between a day’s pay and taking care of a child who’s home sick from school. The campaign, called Paid Sick Leave for Nebraskans , includes small-business owners who haven’t balked at the idea of a new mandate, she added.

The U.S. is an outlier among wealthy countries in not guaranteeing workers sick leave or other paid time off. The lack of a federal mandate means employers