According to a survey the group did of businesses in Connecticut, which has required paid sick leave since 2012, one-third of workers took no paid sick leave. "These mandates have a chilling effect on employers' ability to innovate and be creative with their leave options," she said.Įileen Appelbaum, senior economist at Center for Economic and Policy Research, says mandated sick pay has not had a negative impact on some companies that have been surveyed. But she says laws force companies to scale back on those benefits to keep down the costs associated with people taking sick days off. Lisa Horn, director of congressional affairs at Society for Human Resource Management, a human resource management trade group, says many companies are leaning toward policies that lump sick, personal and vacation days together. There's also a difference when comparing part-time and full-time employees: Seventy-four percent of full-time workers get paid sick leave, while 24 percent of part-time workers do, according to BLS.ĭespite the disparities, some industry groups are fighting against laws requiring sick leave pay. workers get at least one paid sick day, according to a national compensation survey of employee benefits conducted last year by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.īut only 20 percent of workers whose wages are at the bottom 10 percent get paid sick leave, compared with 87 percent in the top 10 percent. The new focus comes amid wide disparities between the benefits received by the top and bottom rungs of the corporate ladder. "When you don't have sick pay, you get docked." "Paid sick days are a job issue," said Ellen Bravo, executive director for Family Values Work, a network of coalitions fighting to pass paid sick days and family leave policies. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which have announced wage hikes recently, are making changes to their paid sick leave policies. New York, Maryland and other states are considering laws too. And since San Francisco started requiring that in 2007, nearly 20 cities and three states - Connecticut, Massachusetts and California - have passed similar measures. President Barack Obama is calling for federal legislation that would require companies to guarantee workers paid sick days. The debate has caught the attention of governments and companies alike. Some of the same workers' rights groups that grabbed headlines recently by pushing companies for wage hikes are steering the conversation toward paid sick leave. ![]() Paid sick leave is the next frontier in the fight for the country's lowest earners. "I'm super afraid of getting sick," said Henderson, 29, who slathers on hand sanitizer at work in hopes of fending off illness. NEW YORK - For Shannon Henderson, getting a cold or flu could be the difference between putting food on the table and going hungry.Īs a part-time customer service representative at a Wal-Mart in Sacramento, California, Henderson is one of an estimated 40 million American workers for who calling in sick is a luxury.
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