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

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/business/03sick.html?ref=health

Contact: Sarah Standiford, 207-622-0851, ext. 20, or 207-837-2609 (cell)

Paid Sick Days Needed to Limit H1N1 in Schools and Workplaces

Augusta – On Tuesday, a prominent local physician joined Senate President Libby Mitchell and advocates for seniors, women, and survivors of violence to urge passage of “An Act to Aid in the Prevention of the Spread of H1N1 Influenza by ensuring the Provision of Earned Paid Sick Time.” The bill was recently approved for introduction by Legislative Council by a vote of 10-0.

The bill, introduced by Senate President Libby Mitchell, would provide approximately six paid sick days annually for large businesses and approximately three days for small businesses. The time could be used to care for oneself or a family member for illness or in relation to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

Public health officials have repeatedly cautioned that the best way to stop the spread of H1N1 is for workers to stay home if they are sick and for parents to keep children who are sick home from school. In August, the White House released a report of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology which estimated that H1N1 could infect as many as 120 million Americans this winter, resulting in the death of as many as 90,000 Americans.

A 2007 study by the Trust for America’s Health (released prior to the current recession and the outbreak of H1N1) projected that a pandemic flu outbreak would cause a $2.4 billion drop in Maine’s GDP and cost 11,000 people their lives. By taking action to enable private sector workers to take care of themselves during this public health crisis, Maine lawmakers will protect Maine’s economic recovery and the public’s health.

Said Dr. Daniel Summers, an Augusta physician specializing in Adolescent Medicine and Pediatrics, “I’m telling the parents of the children I treat, stay home when you’re sick and keep your children home from school and day care when they are sick. But until all of these parents have paid sick days, I know many will not be able to follow my advice.” He continued, “This is one of those situations where we need the State Legislature to step in. Every parent I talk to should be in the position to take my advice for their own safety, the safety of their children, and the safety of the public at large. But until we pass this law, there will be those who won’t be able to do what is best for their family’s health, the public health and the health of our economy…”

Said Senate President Libby Mitchell, “Without job-protected paid sick days, workers will risk their paychecks and even their jobs if they stay home when they or their children contract H1N1. I introduced this bill because, especially during a public health emergency, it is our shared responsibility to ensure that every Mainer can protect their health and the public’s health.”

Sarah Standiford, Executive Director of the Maine Women’s Lobby, noted that it is during the recession, especially, that workers need these protections. Losing a job can be catastrophic and can add demands on already strained state services. She said, “That’s why a policy such as job-protected paid sick days is a job retention strategy – a boost for workers and their families, a benefit to business and also a prerequisite for public health.”

The Maine Women’s Lobby is a non-partisan, non-profit, membership organization working since 1978 to increase opportunities for women and girls through advocacy and legislative action.

www.mainewomen.org.

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Their advice is simple: Plan ahead and “encourage sick workers to stay home without penalty.”

But, how can workers stay home when they don’t have paid sick days?

Read more from our press release.
Check out our e-newsletter to learn how you can get involved.

The Holmes Family

Send us your paid sick days photo today!

Here is Debra Ness testifying yesterday for the Healthy Families Act.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s a ridiculous amount of information about swine flu, paid sick days … and bagels.

Swine Flu and You

Swine flu a pandemic

More about the Healthy Families Act & Paid Sick Days

Description and history of the bagel

PS: If you don’t understand the connection between bagels and swine flu, then you’re obviously not reading our e-mails – subscribe today! Check out our email archive.