The lack of paid sick days poses a risk to public health. Many of the workers without paid sick days are in food service and health care jobs where illness can be spread to those they work with and serve. At no time was this clearer than during the H1N1 epidemic, when 8 million Americans went to work with the flu – in turn infecting another 7 million people with the virus.

But the lack of paid sick days is more than just a public health crisis – it is an economic crisis.  As hard-working Americans are fired for being sick, they add to the growing unemployment rates and keep our economic recovery from moving forward.

There is a solution.

The Healthy Families Act introduced today by Congresswoman DeLauro (D-CT) and Senator Harkin (D-IA), will allow workers to earn up to seven paid sick days a year to recover from illness, access preventive care or look after a sick child or other family members.

This modest amount of sick leave will have a huge impact on millions of workers across the country, allowing them to take care of themselves and their loved ones when they are sick – without the fear of losing their jobs or needed wages.

And paid sick days will help workers without hurting business. In San Francisco and Washington, DC, where laws have already been enacted, studies have shown that workers are not only healthier but more productive when they have access to paid sick days.  Six in seven employers surveyed in San Francisco say that paid sick days have had no negative effect on profitability, and two-thirds of employers support the law.

In order to strengthen jobs and the economy, safeguard public health and protect working families, we need paid sick days – and we need the Healthy Families Act.

this blog post is a repost from family values at work.

“Batavia School District Nurse Cathy Meyer often finds herself tangling with parents over sending their kids to school sick.

And the students don’t just have the sniffles.

One day last month, three kids were vomiting as they got off the school bus.

When she confronts parents about sending kids who are sick, she learns the truth:

The uncertain economic climate has resulted in more kids coming to school ill, because their parents fear losing their jobs if they stay home with their kids.” Read more here.

As candidates hit the campaign trail, vying for a seat in the 125^th Legislature or executive office, L.D. 1665 is getting an awful lot of attention – and it isn’t all good. While a few pundits and editorialists speak out against the bill as “out of touch,” one cannot help but wonder who’s really out of touch with every day Maine people. A Lake Research Partners poll of 500 likely Maine voters found that 87 percent of respondents support legislation guaranteeing paid sick days. Now, I’m no statistician, but 87 percent seem to me as overwhelming support for a bill – especially because support remains high across political parties. Moreover, polls further indicate that voters are more likely to support candidates who promote paid sick days, so what’s going on in Maine?

Thankfully, the grassroots are setting things straight. (Click here to read the whole piece that we submitted to the Mom’s Rising Blog!)

“Work attendance by infected employees is a public health issue due to contagion,” says Robert Drago, Ph.D., Professor of Labor Studies and Women’s Studies, Pennsylvania State University and co-author of the Briefing Paper. “Employees who attended work while infected with H1N1 are estimated to have caused the infection of as many as 7 million co-workers.”

The United States is one of the few developed nations without universal paid sick days. The vast majority of public sector employees receive paid sick days, but two out of five private sector employees have no access to paid sick days, leaving the nation ill-prepared for outbreaks of contagious illness.

“The data suggest that only two-thirds of private sector employees took time away from work when infected with H1N1, despite advice to stay home. Workers without paid sick days must choose whether to go to work sick or lose pay, a choice that many can’t afford to make,” notes Kevin Miller, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate at IWPR and co-author of the Briefing Paper.

Absence due to illness during the H1N1 pandemic reached its peak in October. The drop in absence rates between October and November was twice as steep in the public sector as it was in the private sector, suggesting that presenteeism – attending work while ill – among private sector employees without paid sick days may have extended the duration of the outbreak in that sector.

the whole report can be found here

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

“…Everyday during flu season, thousands of people go to work sick even though they know they should be staying home. The problem is, if they do the responsible thing and stay home, they lose a day’s pay. For the thousands of Mainers who lack paid sick time exposing their coworkers and customers is a risk they have to take in order to ensure the rent is paid, the cupboard is full and the heat stays on.”  Read Senate President Libby Mitchell’s blog post on paid sick days…and pass it on!

Said Secretary Solis yesterday, “Thanks to the leadership of Vice President Biden we are proud to work with our colleagues in the Cabinet and the Middle Class Task Force to improve work-life policies, and efforts are underway to see how we can better meet the needs of modern working families. The Department’s testimony today in support of the Healthy Families Act points to one important step in that direction.”

The cost of being sick:H1N1 and Paid Sick Days