By Frank James

The advent of swine-flu season has raised concerns that flu-ridden workers without paid sick leave may remain on the job, potentially exposing other workers and customers to the virus.

So there are efforts in Congress to pass legislation that would require employers to provide paid sick leave.

NPR's Joanne Silberner reports that a third paid-sick day bill was introduced Wednesday in Congress.

Joanne reports:

There are already two bills in the House and Senate that would require employers to grant 7 days of sick leave for any illness, or to take care of a sick relative. The new bill, sponsored by Democratic Representatives George Miller and Lynn Woolsey, both of California, would require that if an employer with 15 or more workers sends a worker home because the worker has a contagious disease, the employer has to provide up to five days of paid sick leave.
The employer could call the worker back if he or she thinks the worker has gotten better. The legislation was sparked by the new H1N1 swine flu pandemic -- the idea being that if sick workers stay home, it could help stop the spread of the virus. The legislation would "sunset" after two years. Miller plans to hold a hearing on the bill November 16.

As Joanne reported recently on All Things Considered, employers are troubled by efforts to legislate paid sick leave.

An excerpt:

About 75 percent of member businesses do offer some sort of sick leave, says Susan Eckerly, senior vice president of public policy at the National Federation of Independent Business.
"If they don't offer paid sick leave it's probably because they can't afford it," she says. "Paying wages is sometimes all an employer can do."
While the NFIB membership is sensitive to swine flu, it doesn't want a sweeping law, she says. "You don't solve a short-term problem by imposing a long-term mandate at a time we're just seeing our way out of an economic recovery," she says.

According to a press release from Rep. Miller's office:

At least 50 million American workers do not have access to paid sick leave, many in lower-wage jobs that have direct contact with the public such as the food-service and hospitality industry, schools and health care fields. The National Partnership for Women and Families estimates that the economy loses $180 billion in productivity a year when sick employees show up to work, also known as "presenteeism."

categories: Congress

6:28 - November 4, 2009

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