Check out the letter of support from the Maine Small Business Coaltion:

Maine business leaders support paid sick days

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tell us to stay home from work or school in order to decrease the spread of the H1N1 virus. President Obama says, “If you’re sick, stay home.” Common sense tells us to limit our contact with others when we are sick.

Yet for the majority of Mainers, staying home isn’t that easy. For workers who don’t have paid sick days, following this advice can lead to losing much needed wages, or even their job. That’s why, as a Maine business leader, I support paid sick days.

In times like this it is especially unfair — and unsafe — when people are forced to go to work sick.  And when employees in the food, retail, and health care industries can’t stay home, it’s a public health concern and a liability – for Maine’s business community and for citizens across the state.

Presenteeism, the lost productivity that occurs when employees come to work but perform below par due to illness, has an economic price.  Paid sick days help business benefit from reduced turnover, higher productivity, and reducing the spread of contagion in the workplace.

Making it possible to stay home when you have a fever is a shared responsibility for everyone in Maine. That’s why, as a business owner, I believe paid sick days are the right thing for my company, my employees, and community. It’s time to level the playing field so that everyone has paid sick days.

Good health is good business.

MDI Imported Car Service

Melanie Collins Childcare

Armand  Taschereau Builderd Inc

Khadighar & Scatterseed Project

Theresa Mattor Landscape Architecture

Reben, Benjamin & March

Plante Drywall

Farnsworth Law Office

Noah’s Ark

Rent-A-Geek, LLC

cunningham books

The Gorham Grind coffeehouse

Railroad Square Cinema

Tom Finn Shoe Repair

Ann Croket, PhD

Anytime Antiques

Uptown Appraising

Harbor View Eye Care

Kim Favreau, Custom Seamstress

The Art Guru

Finishing Touches

Solar Marine

Augusta Vacuum

Eastern Awards

Redstone Inc.

John Costin Studio

Woodman’s Grill

Iladel Couture

Otto’s Pizza

Zarra’s

Rhodes Concrete Corporation