Sick Days

The United States does not currently require that employees have access to paid sick days to address their own short-term illnesses or the short-term illness of a family member. The U.S. does guarantee unpaid leave for serious illnesses through the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). This law requires employers with 50 workers working within a 75-mile radius to comply and, within those businesses, covers employees who have worked for their employer for at least 12 months prior to taking the leave. In January 2015, President Barack Obama asked Congress to pass the Healthy Families act under which employees could earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours they work up to seven days or 56 hours of paid sick leave annually. The bill as proposed, would apply to employers with 15 or more employees, for employees as defined in the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Some studies show that the cost of losing an employee (which can include advertising for, interviewing, and training a replacement) is often greater than the cost of providing sick days to retain existing employees. One brief suggests the average cost of turnover is 25 percent of an employee’s total annual compensation.

Presenteeism costs the U.S. economy $180 billion annually in lost productivity. For employers, this costs an average of $255 per employee per year and exceeds the cost of absenteeism and medical and disability benefits. For workers in the foodservice industry, one analysis found that food borne illness outbreak for a chain restaurant – including negative public opinion, which affects other operations in a metropolitan area – can be up to $7 million.

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics has said that the average cost of sick leave per employee hour worked is 23 cents and the cost per service worker is 8 cents. Additional research by advocates for a policy has suggested that paid sick days could lead to savings of $1.17 per worker per week for employers.

Many studies have looked at the economic well being of the city of San Francisco after they passed their sick leave policy in 2004. The research finds that (including other external factors) San Francisco outperformed its neighboring counties in terms of job growth in the years after its sick leave program went into effect – even during the recent recession.

The Healthy Families Act (HR 2460 / S 1152) would establish a basic workplace mandate of paid sick days so workers can take paid sick days to care for their health or the health of their families.

The bill creates a minimum requirement that allows workers to earn up to seven days per year of paid leave to recover from illness, to care for a sick family member, or to seek preventative health care. It enables victims of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault to take paid time off to recover from incidents and seek assistance from the police or court. It also allows people to take time off to care for ill parents and elderly relatives, or to attend diagnostic or routine medical appointments. Employers with fewer than 15 workers would be exempt from the law.

The Healthy Families Act would allow an additional 30 million workers to have access to paid sick leave from their jobs, including 15 million low-wage workers and 13 million women workers. If the bill were to become law, 90 percent of all American workers would have access to paid sick days (up from 61 percent currently).

The Healthy Families Act was the subject of three hearings in the 111th United States Congress:

·      House Education and Labor Committee’s Workforce Protections Subcommittee hearing on the Healthy Families Act on June 11, 2009.

·      Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Subcommittee on Children and Families hearing, “The Cost of Being Sick: H1N1 and Paid Sick Days,” on November 10, 2009.

·      House Education and Labor Committee hearing, “Protecting Employees, Employers and the Public: H1N1 and Sick Leave Policies,” on November 17, 2009.

The U.S. government guarantees federal employees 13 paid sick days a year.

Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term “parental leave” may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from “maternity leave” and “paternity leave” to describe separate family leave available to either parent to care for small children. In some countries and jurisdictions, “family leave” also includes leave provided to care for ill family members. Often, law stipulates the minimum benefits and eligibility requirements.

Unpaid parental or family leave is provided when an employer is required to hold an employee’s job while that employee is taking leave. Paid parental or family leave provides paid time off work to care for or make arrangements for the welfare of a child or dependent family member. The three most common models of funding are social insurance/social security (where employees, employers, or taxpayers in general contribute to a specific public fund), employer liability (where the employer must pay the employee for the length of leave), and mixed policies that combine both social security and employer liability.

The company I worked for had benefits that they did not advertise or promote. There were three sick days (with pay) that was extended to six sick days. They also had a medical plan withdrawn from the paycheck. The amount of co-payment was fixed to $200. These were the days of horse and buggy.

Like social security and whatever deductions I had, I accepted it as the norm. Every year there was a booklet printed for all to read of the benefit and medical package they were paying for, but no one read it.

I didn’t realize until later that most of the staff viewed ‘sick days’ as just another week of holidays. I also wondered why ‘hourly’ paid workers were given a day’s pay for not being at work?

I don’t like being sick. I don’t like feeling bad. It is icky.

I’ve used a few sick days for the common cold or the late night party or a dinner’s disagreement or an occasional hangover. These were days I’d been useless at work.

The medical health plan never covered whatever ailments I had so I paid out-of-pocket. The one time I used the insurance saved me from selling my house.

However they figure out who can stay away from work and for whatever reason is fine. My taxes and your taxes will pay for it.

I just want to stay well and healthy until the end. Wash your hands and don’t touch your face.