Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Sick of it!

Did you know that half of workers don't have a single paid sick day? There are no state or federal laws that require employers to provide paid sick days.

I don't know about you, but I use almost all my sick days to stay home with my son when he's sick. A lot of parents, especially moms, get fired because they have to stay home with a sick child.

Well, you can do something about it without leaving the ergonomic comfort of your keyboard. Join the Online Rally for Healthy Families! You can share your sick-day story and send a message to Congress to pass the Healthy Families Act, which would establish a new standard of seven paid sick days per year for workers to recover from their own illness, or to care for sick family members.


Matt said...

I'm sympathetic. I don't get paid when I take time off (vacation, sick, whatever). I've taken off 2 weeks before to care for my kid. I suspect that most of those people are either small business owners or employees thereof. It might be a real burden on those employers. I'm all for companies taking care of their employees, but having the government mandate a specific sick-leave policy like that is excessively statist. Besides, that 48% sounds like a massaged statistic (and that's coming from someone trained in stats).

Jeremy Adam Smith said...

Aw come know what's excessively statist? The Patriot Act. Seven measly days of sick time won't put anyone out of business and it might make life easier for a whole lot of people. If the entire western world can do it (and actually, the US has to work really hard to catch up with the rest of the western world when it comes to supporting families), so can we.

Matt said...

I can't argue with the Patriot Act - its one of the things that almost makes me embarassed to be American. And I agree that seven days seems measly. It would certainly make life easier for many many people. I disagree that it should be a federal mandate. But this bill is just a distraction; congress is just throwing us scraps. Its a BS feel-good measure so that congress can point to something happy but insignificant when they're screwing us with huge defense budgets while taking away our civil liberties. These things I think are far more damaging to everyone (not just people with sick leave).

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the post, Jeremy; it comes with perfect timing, while my wife and I are at home sick, and frustrated at current sick leave policy. Not to mention parental leave policy. The US doesn't seem to be as family friendly as it lays claim to be. Leave should be afforded by law, Matt! And the burden isn't only on the companies but also the public, who has the right and privilege to make life a little easier for everyone.

Jeremy Adam Smith said...

"this bill is just a distraction; congress is just throwing us scraps..."

Well, that may be true, and it sounds like we agree on the greater evil of a vast military-industrial complex. But still, I'll take the scraps. Small victories can lead to bigger ones.