Duh, employers. Let sick workers stay home

by Katie Bethell

The Centers for Disease Control released Preparing for the Flu: A Communication Toolkit for Businesses and Employers, which includes recommendations from the CDC, and a letter cosigned by the Secretaries of Commerce, Health and Human Services, and Labor.

Their advice? Plan ahead and “encourage sick workers to stay home without penalty,”. You’d think this would go without saying, right? What employer would want someone with the swine flu to show up at work? As it turns out, lots of them.

Today, nearly 1/2 of the workforce doesn’t have paid sick days. And, to make matters worse, the people who are most likely to interact with the public, like restaurant employees, hotel staff, and home health providers are the least likely to have paid sick days (roughly 74% have no paid sick days at all). When illness strikes, people without paid sick days have a tough choice: go to work sick and put their own health and their coworkers at risk, or stay home to recover and lose pay and (maybe even their jobs).

The CDC does right to tell employers that by not having paid sick days, they are putting both their businesses and public health at risk. Commerce Secretary Locke says it himself: “If an employee stays home sick, it’s not only the best thing for that employee’s health, but also his co-workers and the productivity of the company.”

But these leaders don’t go far enough. The CDC and the Secretaries of Commerce, Health and Human Services, and Labor should publicly support the Healthy Families Act (H.R.2460/S.1152). This bill, introduced in the House by Rep. Rosa DeLauro and in the Senate by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, simply ensures that employers allow all workers to earn a minimum of 7 paid sick days per year.

Without a law in place that sets a standard for earning paid sick days, we will never achieve the kind of economic and public health safety net that we need to combat issues like the H1N1 virus. We’ve encountered flu pandemics before, and we certainly will again, but businesses have not, on their own, adopted paid sick days policies despite the clear case for their benefit to businesses and the public alike.

It’s not rocket science. The simple standard proposed by the Healthy Families Act is necessary for addressing this, and future, public health and economic needs. It’s time for our leaders to speak out, and help bring our laws up to speed with common-sense public health practices.

Real Abuse - The Need for Paid Sick and Safe Days

This week, I met with an amazing woman. Her name is Bobbi and she lives in Milwaukee.

Bobbi has had a run of bad luck... to say the least.

The day Bobbi's son was born (pre-maturely at that), the insurance company cut her off. Left with heaps of hospital bills and bad credit, Bobbi came to be economically dependent on her boyfriend. After some time, this man became increasingly jealous and abusive. Bobbi and her son was trying to leave him, but this man snapped so badly, leaving the house shot up and Bobbi's jaw broken with plenty of matching body bruises.

Bobbi lost her job because she missed days of work while in the hospital, getting a restraining order, and relocating. Bobbi lost her job because she has no paid safe days.

Unfortunately, Judge Cooper could not see the connection between protecting victims of domestic violence like Bobbi, and protecting one's welfare, health, and safety. He ruled the Milwaukee Paid Sick Days Ordinance down because of the domestic violence protections in the ordinance.

Try finding a new job with your jaw wired shut.

Bobbi has a few things: She has a part time job in health care, huge health care bills, bad credit, nightmares, threatening letters, and a healthy 10 year old boy (she can't live with). Bobbi is still without any access to paid sick or safe days to protect her job if she gets sick, her son gets sick, or her ex gets out of jail.

You want to talk about high business costs and abuse of paid sick days?

Bobbi has experienced the high costs of NOT implementing Paid Sick Days in Milwaukee and REAL ABUSE.

The City must appeal the Judge's narrow and flawed ruling today... for Bobbi and other victims of DV who can't be beaten again.




If you want to help Bobbi take her boards to be a certified nurse, contact me: dana@9to5.org

CEPR- Paid Sick Days Don't Cause Unemployment

In this Center for Economic and Policy Research report, researchers find that there is no relationship between national unemployment rates and paid sick days legislation:

"Paid Sick Days Don't Cause Unemployment

June 2009, John Schmitt, Hye Jin Rho, Alison Earle, and Jody Heymann

Critics of legislation requiring employers to provide paid sick days frequently argue that these measures will lead to job loss and raise the national unemployment rate. However, this issue brief shows that the experience of 22 countries with the highest level of social and economic development (as measured by the Human Development Index) suggests that there is no statistically significant relationship between national unemployment rates and legally-mandated access to paid sick days and leave."

Click here to view the full report.

Prevent Swine Flu with Paid Sick Days

Swine flu, a potentially pandemic flu virus, is being reported all over the world including in the U.S. We now have over 60 confirmed cases in the U.S. and over a hundred deaths in Mexico. Five schools in Milwaukee have been closed for the rest of the week.

Problem:
Secretary of the Department Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, declared Swine Flu a public health emergency in the United States. White House officials monitoring the situation recommend that: "If you're sick, stay home, get treatment, go see a doctor."
That's easier said than done. Today, 43% of workers don't get a single paid sick day. How do the experts expect people to stay home when they're sick? For up to date information about swine flu, visit the Center for Disease Control website.

Solution:
Our country should allow all working people to earn paid sick days to ensure our economic security, and protect public health.

Take Action Now!
Ask your U.S. Representatives to support the Healthy Families Act by clicking here.
Sign our petition to tell our country's leaders that all workers need and deserve paid sick days
Keep pressure on Milwaukee Mayor Barrett to encourage paid sick time, join 9to5, community groups and kids at City Hall 3:30PM on May 6 for postcard delivery to the Mayor's office. The Mayor has started to reverse course acknowledging the "spirit" of paid sick time here and we want to make sure the city defends voters and the law, not the MMAC, in court May 11 (starting at 1:30PM, County Courthouse)

Please take action by May 15th.