The business community on the Lower Eastern Shore is supporting a bill concerning sick time requirements for seasonal workers. Currently, seasonal and J1 workers must work for 106 days before they can receive five days of sick leave. House Bill 1015 would increase the required threshold to 120 days.
“These employees come in, they work during the busy season, and then they either return to school, or if they’re J1 workers, go back overseas. This bill is intended to provide some provisions for sick and safe leave during the period that they’re here employed as seasonal workers,” said President and CEO of Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce Bill Chambers.
106 days is an arbitrary number, Chamber says, adding that it would not cover the typical summer season for Maryland’s resort towns.
The bill currently sits in the House Economic Matters Committee.
