A Sick Situation

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1 May 2009

As more cases of swine flu are reported, we are hearing more about staying home from work and school if you experience any flu-like symptoms. But the reality is the majority of workers cannot stay home when their sick. For the majority of workers, missing work results in a loss in wages – and possibly their job. Judith Warner in her New York Times blog, Domestic Disturbances, discusses the dangerous connection between a possible pandemic and families who lack paid sick days.

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Nancy Hudak

May 1st, 2009 at 4:35 pm

Most workers have no protection if their employer shuts down for the flu either. I am very worried about hourly-wage school employees (ed Techs, cooks, bus drivers, etc) who work during the school-year only. They typically work 180 days, 6.5 hours (or less) per day. That’s it.

They may have sick leave time for their own illness, but if the school building or system shuts down for 7 days as the Commissioner has recommended then they may be out of luck because those work days will not be made up. 5-7 days of lost wages is a big deal for anyone, but when you only work 180 days of the year – it’s an even bigger problem.

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