The Cost of Being Sick

As we prepare for 9to5's National Day of Action -- Healthy Workplaces: Paid Sick Days Now, we consider this question ... What is the real cost of being sick for working women and particularly for low-wage working women.

The writer of this column provides some answers.

After you're done reading this, don't forget to contact Asha Leong at asha@9to5.org to start planning YOUR event for the National Day of Action.

It really is true -- no worker should have to choose between the job she needs and the family she loves.

The Cost of Being Sick

Published August 14, 2010 by:

Leigh Ann Conselyea
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5682272/the_cost_of_being_sick.html?cat=31

How much does it cost to be sick these days? If you've ever gone to work and found one or more of your co-workers sneezing, coughing, and sniffling all day, you may have wondered why they were even there in the first place. Admit it...those thoughts run through your mind as you overdose on hand sanitizer and try to stay as far away from them as possible.

The fact of the matter is that for many Americans, staying home while sick is a luxury they cannot afford. Too many people in this country do not have enough paid sick time each year. This problem doesn't just affect working professionals however. In an article by James Warren for Bloomberg Business Week, a second-grade school teacher, Stilli Klikizos talks about the many sick children that must stay in school all day long because their parents can't get off work to come get them.

There is a bill currently in Congress called the Healthy Families Act that, if passed, would change things for many Americans. The Healthy Families Act would require employers with 15 or more employees to provide 7 paid sick days a year for their workers. These days could be used not only for days when the worker is sick, but the time can also be used when caring for others, or going to routine doctor's appointments.

Advocates of the bill argue that we cannot afford to not take these measures. When people come to work sick, they are possibly infecting clients, co-workers, and customers. In the case of restaurant or daycare workers, their illness has the potential to affect the health of many. In a 2006 survey, conducted by the Center on Work Life Law at the University of California's Hastings College of the Law, 1 in 6 workers said they or a family member had been fired, suspended, punished or threatened by an employer for taking time off to care for themselves or a family member when ill. The Healthy Families Act is intended to alleviate some of the work/family conflicts that employees today often face.

Critics of the bill argue that too many businesses are already struggling to make ends meet right now, and that this is the wrong time to force yet another government mandated expense.