For many, a choice: Work sick or lose job
About a quarter of American workers have no paid leave
Millions of American workers who don’t have paid sick leave could face a choice if they suspect they are infected with coronavirus: their health or their livelihood.
Concerns are growing that workers who cannot afford to stay home will accelerate the spread of the virus, Vice President Mike Pence said Monday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended employers “ensure that your sick leave policies are flexible and consistent with public health guidance.”
Yet 32 million U.S. workers have no paid sick days. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 7 in 10 lowwage workers and 1 in 4 overall do not receive paid sick leave. Some don’t even have the option of unpaid sick leave, forcing them to either clock in and risk the health of customers and co-workers or forfeit their paycheck and possibly their positions.
Emergency paid sick leave has become an urgent public health issue with the rapid spread of the coronavirus, says Nicolas Ziebarth, associate professor of economics at Cornell University.
The studies Ziebarth has conducted show that mandated sick leave by individual states and cities significantly reduces transmission of the flu. Other studies show that adopting paid sick leave does not depress wages or job creation, he said.
“When people gain access to paid sick leave, the spread of the flu decreases,” he says. “It’s important in this situation that, when you have people who have symptoms and don’t feel well, that they do not go to work and spread diseases” to slow the infection rate and buy time for public health officials to develop a vaccine.
Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse and other chains, said Monday that hourly employees would now be offered paid sick leave at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked.
The move reflects how quickly paid sick leave – one of the options President Donald Trump is weighing to shield vulnerable workers and the American economy from the coronavirus – has risen to the top of the national political debate.
In a White House briefing Monday, Pence said he had been hearing from governors about the concern that hourly wage earners would feel they had to go to work even if they were ill.
“When we tell people, ‘If you’re sick, stay home,’ the president has tasked the team with developing economic policies that will make it very, very clear that we’re going to stand by those hardworking Americans,” said Pence, who leads the administration’s coronavirus task force.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other top congressional Democrats on Sunday urged Trump to take steps to protect workers, including paid sick leave for those being quarantined or caring for children kept home by school closures.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-wash., and Rep. Rosa Delauro, D-conn., proposed legislation last week that would require all employers to give workers 14 days of paid sick leave during a public health emergency, including the current threat.
“In the richest country in the history of the world, it is an outrage that we do not guarantee paid leave for everyone,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said via Twitter on Saturday. “We cannot let the greed of corporations risk the public health of our community.”
No federal laws require that employers offer paid sick leave. It’s required in 12 states and Washington, D.C., and in some 30 cities and local jurisdictions. Nevada’s paid sick leave law took effect at the start of this year. Maine’s takes effect in 2021, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Typically, these mandates require that employees earn a minimum number of paid sick hours or days each year. Paid sick leave is often opposed by business groups, and many states have passed legislation to thwart any effort to require it.