Employers Urged to Pay for Sick Leave

As employers scramble to figure out how they'll cover the loss of employees to swine flu, a Washington lawmaker wants to guarantee workers have enough sick time.

Representative George Miller, a California Democrat, says employers who send their workers home need to pay those people up to five days of sick leave. People who live paycheck to paycheck, can't afford to be off work without pay, he says. Miller, who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee, says he'll hold a hearing on his bill Nov. 16.

Miller's proposal sounds reasonable. Most big employers provide sick leave and no one wants to infect the entire workplace, right? U.S. health officials urge employers to be flexible on leave: tell workers to stay home if they're sick and don't worry about that doctor's note. What's more, workers shouldn't worry about losing their jobs if they get sick, the government says. One ill employee will infect one in 10 fellow workers.

But here's another interesting figure from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: Almost 40 percent of private-sector workers have no paid sick days. Among the bottom quartile of wage earners: 63 percent do not get paid sick leave. (The group includes restaurant and hospitality workers.)

That's a lot of people with an incentive to go to work sick.