People of Faith CT

When employees come to work sick, they risk spreading illness around the workplace, and also to the general public. Among the biggest groups of workers in the state without paid sick days are food service workers, retail workers, and healthcare workers – all sectors with a high level of public interaction. Infectious illness can be particularly harmful in places like schools and nursing homes where vulnerable populations are in close contact. The fact that school cafeteria workers and nursing home aides so often lack paid sick days defies common sense. The Center for Disease Control recommends that workers with contagious illness stay home. Too many workers lack that choice.

People without paid sick days often can’t take the time off to see the doctor. In fact, employees without paid sick days are more than twice as likely to lack a source for routine preventive healthcare services. Consequently, workers without paid sick days disproportionately lack the kinds of preventive medical care that keep people healthy and keep costs down in the long run. People without paid sick days are also more likely to get their healthcare services in the emergency room. Preventive medicine is always cheaper than long-term disease management. Allowing employees to earn paid sick days increases access to preventive healthcare and saves money for employers, employees, insurers and taxpayers.

In a difficult economic climate, working families are suffering the most. But for far too many working families, losing a day’s pay – or even a job – is as easy as catching a cold. Even a child’s illness can hurt a family’s budget. Having even a few paid sick days a year can be a crucial safety net to help keep families from falling through the cracks. In this recession more than ever, it’s time to give working families the basic measure of economic security that comes from earning paid sick days.

Research indicates that many employers would actually see a net gain in the long term by allowing workers to earn paid sick days. The savings from two sources: high productivity at work due to reduced spread of illness at the workplace and reduce recruitment and training costs because of lower turnover. Making people to come to work sick is never a good business model.