We’ve all experienced it at some point: Coming down with nasty cold symptoms that leave you exhausted and unable to focus on a single task. Hiding your worry or fear as you care for a chronically ill loved one. Waking up to your young child who complains of a sore throat and sports a matching fever, prompting the quick realization that your day will go the complete opposite direction of what you had planned.
These situations are a common, unavoidable part of life that nobody can escape. And that’s okay – it’s a part of being human. Nobody should be penalized for it. There should be built-in safety nets that guarantee employment and financial security through these unanticipated and difficult times.
The past two years have been one big unanticipated, difficult time for everyone, myself included. As a small business owner, the COVID-19 pandemic created many different challenges in my world – the primary concern being to operate my business while simultaneously ensuring my employees (many of whom are parents) have access to what they need to stay healthy and take care of themselves and their families.
I’ve also faced serious personal health challenges during this time. A year ago I was in a car accident that left me with chronic back pain. Despite attempting to take some time off from running my business to heal and care for myself, it simply wasn’t possible financially. By laboring through the recommended recovery period, fully healing was never possible. My doctor is now recommending surgery.
This process repeated itself when I contracted COVID in 2020, along with my sons, daughter and grandchild, making it practically impossible for us to sustain my often family-run business. When I got COVID for the second time in January 2021, total shop closure was inevitable: I had to make the tough decision to close it completely for four weeks to protect myself, my family, my employees and my community, which resulted in significant income loss I can never gain back.
While nobody can prepare for the once-in-a-century pandemic like COVID, we can absolutely prepare for the more common, inevitable parts of life, like getting sick or caregiving, through pre-planned safety nets through a public government-administered program like Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML).
Over the past two years, this resource would have been a complete gamechanger for the small business world, which was taking pandemic-related hit after hit. In addition to giving us business owners the operational and financial stability needed to better plan and prepare for the future, supporting business growth, it would have given me the ability to offer my employees quality, reliable time to pause and care for themselves and their loved ones.
PFML would keep small businesses vibrant and people secure in the local jobs they’re passionate about. Our current way of tailoring special credits and processes like PFML at a price point comfortable to larger businesses is unhelpful and unsustainable. So many Minnesotans want to work for their local mom and pop business that are staffed by the people they care about who live in their communities. Small employers keep these much-loved neighborhoods safe and vibrant, ensuring access to community resources and a thriving local economy.
When we are all able to access the care we need, our entire community benefits. It is extremely hard to work when you don’t feel good. Nobody benefits. Giving everyone the ability to practice some form of self-care without restrictions – without having to make a choice between putting food on the table or proactively resting to avoid burnout; between paying rent or taking time to recover following a serious illness – is critical for the well-being of our world.
These are not the sort of choices we should have to make. By implementing PFML for Minnesota’s small business owners and employees to easily access, we wouldn’t have to.
Tabota Seyon is the owner of Infused Life Plant Based Emporium in Minneapolis and a member of the nonprofit Main Street Alliance, a network of small business owners working towards an equitable and resilient small business economy by creating strong communities.
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