Sick Pay and Heinemann's

Heinemann's restaurant has closed its doors after being a signature Milwaukee business for decades. In listening to the radio this morning it would appear that the sick pay law that was passed in Milwaukee was the thing that caused them to shutter the doors.

While I am against the sick pay law as much as anyone I think people need to be careful in blaming the law for the closing of a business. Heinemann's shut their doors without warning to their customers and their employees which suggest that they had reached the point where they could no longer pay their bills. The sick pay law had NOTHING to do with them shutting down, but the owner did throw that excuse out there as if to make her feel a bit better about being at the head of a failing business. You don't shaft your employees the way Heinemann's did if you didn't have major operating problems.

We can't cry wolf regarding the sick pay law. Some businesses simply fail. That's the way it goes. If there is an outcry every time a business like Heinemann's shutters its doors it will allow proponents of the law to say that business is using the law as a convenient excuse to mask their own failings.

Businesses will close, and many more will relocate, because of this law. It would be wise to save the outrage for those instances where the law is a critical factor in the decision making process rather then falsely blaming it this time.