TAMPA, FL -- Salem Gharsalli is a small business owner with a big question for lawmakers.
"How about me? I'm barely staying in business and you're trying to tack another bill on my back. How and I going to pay for it" Salem asks.
Salem owns eight fast food restaurants across Tampa Bay including one on East Hillsborough in Tampa where we met him. He’s now faced with the possibility of paying every employee sick time if they catch the Swine flu.
"It's not my responsibility and I don't think we can pay for it," he says.
Federal lawmakers say if passed, their bill could take affect in about two weeks.
- It would give workers up to seven paid sick days.
- It would be up to the worker if they need the day off.
- The workers may need to show proof they are in fact sick with the H1N1.
The Centers for Disease Control and prevention are telling people if you feel sick, stay home. So what's a worker to do?
"One day's work is very much the difference between medicines, the difference between going to the doctor."
Cheryl Schroeder runs the West Central Florida Federation of Labor. She says the unions have been fighting for paid sick days for years. The Swine is a reminder of how crucial that time off can be.
"He or she is not able to make that mortgage payment or that rent payment or not able to drive the economy through that purchase of food or clothing,” Cheryl says.
But Salem says there's a trickle down effect for him too. He's building a new restaurant hoping to expand and hire more people. If he has to pay sick leave, there may be no new employees.
"The economy's tough and we are barely making it," he says.
The bill would apply to all employers with more than 15 employees. It could also cover parents with children who become infected with the H1N1 virus.
