Rosa DeLauro: Swine Flu "Looming Large" Behind Sick Leave Bill

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced a bill this week that would allow American workers to earn up to seven paid sick days a year. A study released Monday by the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that the United States is the alone among 22 of the most developed countries in its failure to mandate short- and long-term sick leave for workers.

"The recent H1N1 flu had every health professional, including the president, saying 'stay home,'" DeLauro told the Huffington Post. "It's nice for them to say -- they're not going to get docked."

DeLauro, along with Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), has introduced this kind of legislation before to no avail. But this time, with Democratic control of Congress and the White House -- and in the wake of a still-spreading swine-flu outbreak -- DeLauro is much more confident about the bill's prospects of becoming law.

"It's a much different environment, a much different atmosphere, and this flu thing brought it home looming large," DeLauro said. "For me, this is an issue of what's right and what's wrong."

DeLauro's bill would allow workers to earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.* She stressed that it provides protections for businesses -- companies with fewer than 15 employees will be exempt, and companies that already provide leave won't have to change their policies.

DeLauro said that the bill will bring government policy in line, not just with other countries, but with the modern American lifestyle, in which it's less and less common for a household to have a stay-at-home parent to care for sick children, so a parent loses out on wages or a sick kid infects his classmates at school.

"Our public policy has not caught up with the way today people are living their lives."

HuffPost readers: Has illness ever put you in a difficult situation at work? Has a family member's illness ever put you in a bind? Share your stories -- email us at [e-mail].

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*This article originally stated that a worker would earn one day of sick leave for 30 hours of work. The bill would provide one HOUR of sick time per 30 hours worked.

Comments

[uneeda]

she works in the lab which had the accident (?) where h1n1 was created

[Maykat]

Most restaurants don't give their employees sick leave. Think of that next time you go out to eat.

I don't understand why companies don't give sick leave. One sick employee can infect everyone else at their job, especially if you work in one of those buildings where you can't open a window so the same stale air keeps circulating.

It seems cheaper in the long run to have one employee be out for a couple of days than to have clusters of employees out because that one person made them sick and now everyone is just bouncing the illness around from department to department. Or to have employees out because while they didn't get sick, they infected their spouse and children and now they're home with their sick kid.

I understand that sometimes you're contagious before you show symptoms, but once you know that you're sick you should be able to stay home without losing pay. Common sense and public safety.

[olmossy]

Your not thinking like a Modernist, a Free Marketeer Globalist, little people can be replaced, they are irrevelant. wheather they live or die is of no consequence. The Market will work like Magic. If it looks like a lot of people will die, invest in HMO and Drug companies. Open an ambulance service.
As Saint GW has told us, Thou must have Economic Freedom. There is a Golden lining behind every dark cloud. Free People are meaningless.
Educate yourself, become a productive member of the NEW WORLD ORDER

[Aldyth]

One day of sick leave for every 30 hours worked? For a person who works 30 hours a week, that would come to 52 days of sick leave a year. Does this article have it wrong or is DeLauro nuts?

I work forty to fifty hours a week. That would give me 69 to 86 sick days a year. Could we make that straight benefit time so I could use it for vacation, too?

[Maykat]

The article states:

"Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced a bill this week that would allow American workers to earn up to seven paid sick days a year."

So no, you wouldn't get86 days a year.

[Aldyth]

Why are the first seven thirty hour periods worth more than the rest? The whole notion is ridiculous. If you are going to allocate 7 paid days a year, you should award it at a rate of .59 commensurate days per month. That is generally how the Department of Labor expects time to be awarded.

[SatinPanties]

Are those 3-D glasses that you cut out from the back of cereal boxes?

[BlueZoo]

I've been in the situation of being sick and having to go to work or not get paid and it's mighty tough! Missing even one day of work can mean the difference in your children eating or not and it's disgraceful that so many companies keep this policy in place for the first year of employment - and even more time, if the company is a small one. Most employees in this country do NOT work for a Fortune 500 company and they labor sick or they don't get paid. That's the real world!

[rwext]

Yikes , is that a picture of Olbermaddow

[Duane Hurt]

The US is very behind in this area. It is one of the only industrialized countries in the world that does not offer paid vacations or sick leave.

[ohiodem250]

This is pure demagoguery. Because I am a Democrat, I hope this woman shuts her mouth. What stupid drivel!

[kathy001]

If companies who already have a sick leave policy won't have to change their policy, what about companies that only allow you to earn 5 days of sick leave per year? There are lots of them out here. That means this bill will only provide adequate sick leave for some people, not for all.

[TheIndependenceParty]

You know what, kids, ... Your snarky comments about her glasses and hr appearance minimize and overlook the importance of the bill she introduced.

The Corporatists that run this country (US) do anything they can to avoid incurring a cost that benefits the workers that drive their profits, even when that expense, ... a paid sick day, safeguards the interests and safety of the employer's business operation, as this bill would provide.

Their knee jerk reaction to ANY government mandate, from SS, to OSHA to paid days off is the essential reason that Capitalism as currently practiced, is dying a natural death as an economic system. With no natural predators, ... it has become bloated and totally self-interested.

Good on Rep. DeLauro for raising this first step toward a rational public health policy! Perhaps employers should view this as a necessary protection against losing their workforce to a pandemic!

[rockyb26]

finally!

[Outofnowhere]

Wow those look like prescription 3-D glasses.

[rssrai]

It Should be more like 2 weeks. One week is just sick. Parents who get sick should be able to stay home wouthout losing their homes. The richest country in the world have companies who make billions and can't even give their workers paid leave to stay home and take care of their families.

[crayola 08]

wow. she looks like a Ferengi.

[Phxflyer]

Actually, she looks like my Aunt Nancy. Seriously.

[learntofly]

Not a bad idea, but those glasses look like a mini tv department at the Best Buy.