“When you’re struggling to make ends meet you’re going to do everything possible to not miss a day’s pay,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the committee. “The lack of paid sick leave encourages workers who may have H1N1 to hide their symptoms and come to work sick – risking the health of their co-workers, customers and the public.”
On November 3, Rep. Miller and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chair of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, introduced the Emergency Influenza Containment Act (H.R. 3991). The temporary legislation will guarantee up to five paid sick days for a worker sent home or directed to stay home by an employer for a contagious illness, such as the H1N1 flu virus.
The Centers for Disease Control reports that the flu’s spread is very unusual this early in the season. They estimate that 22 million Americans have already become ill in the last six months with H1N1 and 3,900 have died. The CDC issued guidance in August that said, in part, that workers feeling symptoms of the flu should stay home and employers should not penalize them for staying home.
“Visits to doctors for influenza-like illness as well as flu-related hospitalizations and deaths among children and young adults…are higher than expected for this time of the year,” said Assistant Surgeon General Anne Schuchat, who is also the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC. “Some ways to combat the spread of respiratory infections include staying home when you are sick and keeping sick children at home.”
Public health officials say that isolating the virus is important to slow the infection rate of the H1N1 flu virus. They recommend strong measures to ensure that those with the infection stay away from others and that mandatory sick leave policies can be helpful to not only slow the spread, but also to improve businesses’ productivity.
“This is particularly a plus for small employers where preventable losses of even a small number of workers can have a devastating effect on the business,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association. “Mandatory sick leave encourages employees to stay out of the workplace when appropriate, protecting the business and I believe hastens the employees return to productive work.”
While public health officials have advised employers to show flexibility in allowing workers to stay home without taking punitive actions, some workers have reported that employers are not providing needed time off.
At least 50 million American workers currently do not have access to paid sick leave, many in lower-wage industries that have direct contact with the public such as food-service, hospitality industry, schools and health care fields.
“Our nation’s failure to provide a minimum standard of paid sick leave is putting our public health at risk. More than two-thirds of flu cases are transmitted in schools and workplaces,” said Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families. “Workers in child care centers and nursing homes, and retail clerks disproportionately lack paid sick days. Because the lack of paid sick days forces employees to work when they are ill, their coworkers and the general public are at risk of contagion.”
Studies also show that businesses stand to lose billions in productivity when workers come in sick. Ness said when sick employees come into work and infect co-workers, they lower productivity by as much as $180 billion a year and have the potential to cripple vital business operations.
For more information on the Emergency Influenza Containment Act, click here.
To read the testimony of the hearing, click here.
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