About a quarter of U.S. workers lack paid sick leave for themselves, much less any paid time off to take care of a new baby or aging parents or a sick spouse.
Supporters argue that the current coronavirus pandemic makes a strong argument for of paid family and medical leave.
Most employers agree that providing paid family and medical leave is good, for their employees and society, said Roger Hays, president of Premier Employer Services in Arapahoe County.
The struggle is not with the concept but with the costs and balancing competing interests, Hays said. Employers ask questions about how flexible the rules will be, how much time off must be provided, what safeguards will prevent abuse, how much it will cost and how coverage will be provided.
Before the legislature shut down Saturday, leaders had debated if the state should create a social insurance program or issue a private insurance mandate. This story dives into where that debate stands now.
Thanks for reading.
— Aldo Svaldi and Joe Rubino, Denver Post business reporters
Small businesses in Colorado eye paid family leave wearily, but is it justified?
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Five of our best (non-coronavirus) stories from the past week
Colorado teachers eager for more mental health resources to help students
Anxiety and depression aren’t new, of course, but students appear to be dealing with more, whether related to testing, extracurricular activities or getting into college. And they do this constantly, partly because of social media and cellphone access. Some have family trauma and heightened fears related to political or social issues, experts say.
And like it or not, it often falls to teachers to identify and assist troubled kids, Saja Hindi reports.
The way Coloradans choose candidates in elections could change as fewer people participate in caucuses
More than 14,000 Democrats and about 10,000 Republicans participated in Colorado’s caucuses this year, compared with more than 1.8 million people who turned in ballots in the first presidential primary in the state in two decades. Read more from Saja Hindi.
$18 million fine proposed in fatal Firestone home explosion
State energy regulators on Thursday said they will seek to fine a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp. $18.25 million in connection with the deadly explosion at a home in Firestone nearly three years ago that a federal probe determined was caused by natural gas leaking from a severed underground pipe.
It would be the largest enforcement penalty ever sought by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission — more than 10 times larger than the previous top penalty assessed by the agency. Read more from John Aguilar.
Planned Parenthood shooting: State Supreme Court considers whether property owners shoulder blame in mass shootings
The Colorado State Supreme Court will consider whether property owners can be held responsible for mass shootings that happen on their land in a decision that could have a significant impact on victims and businesses throughout the state. Read more from Shelly Bradbury.
In Englewood, an accidental restaurateur combines the farm with the table
Driving across Hampden Avenue in Englewood, you probably wouldn’t notice that a food system is growing on this land. Apartment buildings, parking garages, hospitals and cleared lots, sure, all obvious. But local food? Much harder to spot. Read more from Josie Sexton.
Stories related to the coronavirus outbreak
Production note: We purposefully kept coronavirus content out of the five articles above because we wanted to elevate them during a week when they may have been missed. Here are in-depth stories specific to the outbreak.
+ What to do when all the coronavirus news gets overwhelming
+ Colorado educators reach out to their most vulnerable students as schools close for weeks
+ Here’s what Colorado’s jails and prisons are doing to prevent coronavirus among the 32,000 people who live inside
+ Hotels, convention centers, airlines caught in the coronavirus vortex face $80 million loss
+ Coronavirus begins ravaging downtown Denver businesses as foot traffic slows
+ What you need to know about quarantine and isolation orders
+ In Colorado and nationwide, mortgage markets freezing up as volatility rises
+ Colorado college athletes heartbroken over NCAA cancellations: “The rug was yanked out from all of us”
More of our best stories
+ Special investigator condemns Aurora police leadership’s handling of drunken-driving cop
+ Traveling through the I-25 South Gap project? Slow down
+ RTD moves forward on cuts to bus, rail service starting in May
+ Colorado mountain snowpack in “good spot” for water supply heading into spring
Photo of the week
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![[prison 19] Caption: This is Cellhouse 1, Pod A, from ground level inside the Sterling Correctional Facility which is located outside of Sterling, Colorado Thursday afternoon. Photographer: LEW SHERMAN Title: FREELANCE Credit: SPECIAL TO THE POST City: Sterling State: CO Country: USA Date: 19990617 ObjectName: prison 19 Keyword: PUBDATE____1999_06_22](/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/20151207__denverpostp1.jpg?w=538 "20151207__denverpost~p1.jpg")
