Swine Flu Driving Paid Sick Leave Laws

by Leigh Graham · 2009-11-15 11:39:00 UTC
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President Obama is urging anyone showing symptoms of swine flu to stay home for at least four days - a nearly impossible task for the 50% of working Americans who lack any paid sick leave.  With legislation stalled in Congress to mandate paid sick leave, 15 states and several cities around the US are proposing their own sick leave laws.  Sen. Dodd (D-CT) has proposed mandatory sick leave just for those diagnosed with swine flu, a rather pathetic compromise, in my book. (And I already know people who likely had swine flu earlier this year only to have it missed by their docs.)

I wrote about this issue less than 2 months ago (first link above), and not too much has changed.  Unsurprisingly, many lawmakers resist the reality that public health and labor issues can be intertwined as is the case here: ill workers showing up to their jobs cost businesses roughly $180B per year, more than the cost of absenteeism. (Also of note: how many women's policy institutes are providing the data on worker/labor policies - gee, I wonder why...)

We have a window of opportunity here to pass some long overdue laws.  I commend Democrats for using swine flu to raise awareness of this issue, and states and cities for responding to the very serious reality of a pandemic sweeping through their populations.  Now if only people could actually get access to the vaccine...

(Photo of mask, liquid soap and paper tissue bfishadow)

Leigh Graham
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