Paid Sick Leave Backgrounders & Briefs

Serving While Sick: High Risks and Low Benefits for the Nation’s Restaurant Workforce, and Their Impact on the Consumer

09/30/2010

The Restaurant Opportunities Centers United. September 30, 2010.

“Serving While Sick: High Risks and Low Benefits for the Nation’s Restaurant Workforce, and Their Impact on the Consumer” reveals the threat that “low road” employers, who skimp on benefits, pose to public health. 87.7 percent of restaurant workers report that they have no access to paid sick leave. This shocking number directly relates to the fact that two-thirds of restaurant servers and cooks report having worked while ill.

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Sick at Work: Infected Employees in the Workplace During the H1N1 Pandemic

01/01/2010

Robert Drago and Kevin Miller. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research. January 2010. 

“Sick at Work: Infected Employees in the Workplace During the H1N1 pandemic” argues that the lack of paid sick days made the HINI outbreak considerably worse—they estimate that an additional seven million people were infected by co-workers who came to work despite their illness.

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The Work, Family and Equity Index: How Does the United States Measure Up?

01/01/2007

Jody Heymann, Alison Earle and Jeffrey Hayes. Project on Global Working Families and the Institute for Health and Social Policy. 2007.

“The Work, Family and Equity Index: How Does the United States Measure Up?” provides a damning window into our dysfunctional social safety net. “Of the 173 countries studied, 168 countries offer guaranteed leave with income to women in connection with childbirth; 98 of these countries offer 14 or more weeks paid leave…the U.S. guarantees no paid leave for mothers in any segment of the work force, leaving it in the company of only 4 other nations: Lesotho, Liberia, Papua New Guinea, and Swaziland.”

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Health, Absense, Disability, and Presenteeism Cost Estimates of Certain Physical and Mental Health Conditions Affecting U.S. Employers

04/01/2004

Ron Goetzel, Stacey Long, et all. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. April 2004.

This study attempts to show the physical and mental impact of “presenteeism”—when a worker goes on the job while ill: "Health, Absense, Disability, and presenteeism Cost Estimates of Certain Physical and Mental Health Conditions Affecting U.S. Employers”. They estimate this costs the national economy $180 billion a year.

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