"Vt. bill targets penalizing sick workers" by Dave Gram | Associated Press February 15, 2014
MONTPELIER — The state Senate gave preliminary approval Friday to a bill that would prohibit companies that offer sick days from penalizing workers who take them.
Senators said the measure was prompted by worker complaints about Sodexo, which handles food service under contracts with the University of Vermont, the Vermont State Colleges, and other colleges in the state.
Senate majority leader Philip Baruth, who is an English professor at UVM, said Sodexo offers seven paid sick days per year, but gives employees a point for taking one. If the worker accumulates seven points in a year, which are also given for tardiness and other infractions, he or she can be terminated, Baruth said.
Sodexo did not immediately respond to an e-mail Friday seeking comment.
Senator Diane Snelling, Republican of Chittenden, questioned why the Legislature should zero in on one employer and why complaints about retaliation for taking promised sick leave could not be settled in a class-action lawsuit....
Baruth told his fellow senators that paid sick time is often used as part of a package of enticements to get employees to sign on to a job. If an employee has accepted ‘‘an offer to earn sick time . . . then using sick time cannot result in a penalty or demerit against you,’’ he said.
The bill does not require employers to offer sick leave, only to honor commitments they made to workers without penalizing them.
Lawmakers are also considering separate legislation that would require employers to offer accrued sick time, up to seven days a year.
Senator Joe Benning, Republican of Caledonia, asked whether an employer could penalize a worker for calling in sick and then spending the day on the ski slopes. Baruth said a provision in the bill would allow employers to penalize workers in such cases.
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"Vt. library settles fines by food donations" Associated Press, January 03, 2014
BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. — A Vermont library is going to let patrons settle overdue book fines with food donations to the local food shelf.
The Rockingham Free Public Library in Bellows Falls was planning to start the program Thursday. It runs through the end of January.
The ‘‘modified fines amnesty’’ program will accept nonperishable food items in lieu of fines for overdue books.
The food item will be turned over to Our Place Drop-in Center, a community service organization in the Bellows Falls area.
‘‘They are the perfect group to receive these donations, they have a great distribution center, and they understand what the community needs,’’ Youth Services Librarian Sam Maskell told The Eagle Times of Claremont, N.H. “We’re really happy to be able to support them.”
Library late fees are 10 cents per day, capped at $3.
Donations cannot be used to settle costs to replace lost items, pay for damaged materials, or interlibrary loans.
Maskell said the food-for-fines program is new to Rockingham, but it has been done at other libraries.
Lisa Pitcher of Our Place said Maskell contacted her a few weeks ago to ask if the organization wanted to work with the library on the amnesty program.
‘‘I said I thought it was a great idea, especially during the holiday time,’’ Pitcher told The Brattleboro Reformer.
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Also see:
Years later, a hope for justice in Vermont slaying
3 men implicated in Vt. woman’s killing
Related: Vermont Vanishing
Maybe they could hold a meeting about it.
