Sick and Tired of No Sick Leave

Fifty million workers in America--including 40 percent of the private
workforce--lack paid sick days. In workplaces with fewer than 100
employees, nearly
50 percent don't have access to that benefit. This despite the
fact that in 2009 the average cost for sick leave per employer-hour
worked in the private sector was just 23 cents.

In the 21st century, where women make up the majority of the
American workforce, and most kids have parents who are employed, to have
so many workers choosing between keeping their job and caring for a
family member, or going to the doctor versus getting a paycheck--is
simply unacceptable when it comes to the well-being of our country.

"As we seek a more efficient and fair health care system, we have
to remember that the workplace has changed enormously," said Ellen
Bravo, Director of Family
Values at Work (FVAW), a network of 14 state coalitions working for
family-friendly policies like paid sick days. "We need to update
workplace policies to meet the needs of today's families."

President Obama said as much last month when he called for
greater workplace flexibility and called out a "disconnect between the
needs of our families and the demands of our workplace." The
Administration backed up this sentiment with $50 million in its proposed
budget for competitive grants to help states launch paid family leave
programs. California and New Jersey have already launched such
programs. San Francisco, Milwaukee and Washington DC have also passed
local paid sick days laws and policymakers in at least 15 states are
considering similar legislation.

Earlier this week on Capitol Hill, small business owners and
workers traveled from eighteen states, including Colorado, Georgia,
Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Washington
state, and Wisconsin--joining advocates from FVAW, Institute for Women's Policy
Research (IWPR), and the National
Partnership for Women and Families--to lobby for passage of the Healthy Families Act.
The legislation would allow employees to earn up to seven days of paid
sick leave per year at businesses with fifteen or more
employees--covering more than 30 million working families.

"Health reform was a giant step forward, but working people need
to be able to access health care," said Debra Ness, President of the
National Partnership for Women and Families. "The best system in the
world does no good to a worker who can't take time off to visit a doctor
or get a test. That's a problem for women in particular because we are
both bread-winners and caregivers for our families."

While the Chamber of Commerce and like-minded individuals will no
doubt react by saying a recession is no time for these reforms--that it
will cost jobs, jobs, and more jobs (as they say with any significant
pro-labor reform)--advocates argue that this recession is exactly the
right time and that in fact it makes good business sense. (The Chamber
has gone so far as to push bogus numbers about the costs of paid sick
days--in NYC, they are claiming the price tag would be nearly $9
billion to the city, totally contradicting the evidence compiled by
the Bureau
of Labor Statistics.)

"Nothing has brought home the need for paid sick days more than
the recession," said Kevin Miller, senior research associate at IWPR.
"Now more than ever, families need flexible workplace policies that
allow them to take a day off when they or their child is sick. Every
paycheck counts--particularly for women, low-wage and minority workers,
who are the least likely to have access to paid sick days."

Aside from the moral imperative, the costs and benefits of paid
sick days and family leave are also very convincing. According to IWPR, passage of the
Healthy Families Act would result in workers saving over $100 million
per year in out-of-pocket expenses for the seasonal flue alone; paid
family leave to care for elderly parents or other relatives could save
over $700 million annually by avoiding temporary placement in care
facilities. Allowing workers time to seek preventative care for things
like immunizations, counseling, and cancer screening would also reduce
health care costs. Paid sick days would give workers the opportunity to
seek primary care and reduce emergency room visits--we currently spend
$20 to $32 billion annually on non-urgent emergency care and it can cost
two to five times as much as primary care, according to the New England
Healthcare Institute. Finally, paid sick days reduce job turnover and
improve productivity, potentially producing billions of dollars in
annual savings for employers and the broader economy.

Monday evening at a conference cosponsored by FVAW and the
National Partnership for Women and Families, Labor Secretary
Hilda Solis addressed the advocates and praised their effort to
fight on behalf of workers.

"I am a person who believes that the federal government was
designed to equalize the importance of all people and all
voices," said Solis. "I'm talking about equalizing the rights for
working class people--for people who at the end of the day don't have
the opportunity to come up here to Washington to lobby."

She expressed confidence that these organizations "will keep that
message going on the Hill--that we need flexibility, that we need pay
equity in the workplace, and we need to cut down on all those barriers
that push us back. And just because we're in a recession, doesn't mean
you get to get away with it again. No."

Solis added that "when we talk about being competitive" it means
"helping to level the playing field [so] that we are not disadvantaging
good businesses."

One person who appreciated that perspective and spoke after Solis
is Rob Everts. He's the owner of Massachusetts-based Equal Exchange which
has 105 employees and takes in $34 million in annual revenue. His
employees receive twelve paid sick days every year which they can use to
care for a sick child, partner, or parent, or use for a medical
appointment.

"We are a business first and foremost, and we have a bottom
line," said Everts. "We don't see a conflict between doing the right
thing and earning a profit. We've never regretted our policy, and
believe it contributes to our growth, our profitability, and for sure
the high retention rate of employees. We can have policies that respect
our workforce while providing minimum labor standards, that put all
businesses on equal footing. It's right, it's fair, and it strengthens
communities across the country."

Everts told me his average worker probably uses only two to three
days of their paid sick leave annually and it's also led to "quite a
bit of loyalty from our employees." He said on "a pure self-interest
level" he doesn't want workers coming in when they are sick or are
distracted or worried about a sick loved-one.

"It really takes its impact in terms of productivity," he said.

I also spoke with Kim Chester, a mother of three whose ten-year
old daughter was born with cerebral palsy. She and her husband both
have paid sick leave and flexible workplaces. It allows them to manage
the hospital visits and weekly therapy visits. But Chester also works
as a parent mentor and sees the negative impact not having that kind of
flexibility has on parents and children--and not just for kids with
special needs.

"My son has asthma. I need to hear from the doctor--how many
puffs, how do you do the inhaler? There are so many reasons why we need
to be there to be able to assist," she said. "If parents have a sick
child, if no parent is with them they're not going to get the services
they need, the care they need at home. They tend to only get care from
the school nurse--which is very limited and some schools don't even have
school nurses."

Solis closed her speech by urging the crowd to remain steadfast
on this issue.

"That energy that we have inside of us, that drives us, whatever
it is--to help women, to help the environment, to help our families--is
something very special. It can help move nations. Right now people are
counting on us," she said. "Are you fired up? Are you fired up? God
bless all of you. God bless the women's movement. And God bless all of
you for fighting for our working families."