Paid Sick Days Bill Could Raise the Bar for Working Californians

California Progress Report, April 20, 2008

By Art Pulaski
Executive Secretary-Treasurer
California Labor Federation

No one likes going to work sick, but nearly six million working Californians – that’s 40 percent of all workers in the state -- do not get any paid sick days from their employers. For these workers, staying home sick could mean losing a day’s wages, or even their jobs.

That’s why the California Labor Federation is co-sponsoring a bill with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) that would grant paid sick days to all of California’s working families. The paid sick days bill, AB 2716, sponsored by Assembly Member Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco), would allow all workers to earn paid sick time that can be used to care for themselves, a sick family member, or to recover from domestic violence or sexual assault. The bill would also make it against the law for employers to retaliate against workers who use paid sick days. According to the National Partnership for Working Families, nearly one in eight workers nationwide said they or an adult worker in their family had been fired, suspended, written up or penalized for taking paid sick days.

This bill goes hand-in-hand with our continuing efforts toward real health care reform for California. When sick workers are handling our food at restaurants and taking care of our children at daycare centers, everyone suffers. Without time off to recover, workers continue to pass the illness along to one another, resulting in decreased productivity, increased errors, and a growing number of sick customers. Even the employer’s bottom line will be affected. But when workers can stay home to recover from illness, it prevents the illness from spreading in the workplace, which leads to a healthier community, fewer visits to the emergency room, and decreased health care costs.

Unfortunately, the United States remains the only industrialized country where there are no laws guaranteeing paid sick days. In fact, San Francisco was the first city in the U.S. to implement a paid sick days law in 2006. California’s paid sick days bill has already passed through the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee as well as the Assembly Judiciary Committee, and more and more lawmakers nationwide are recognizing the importance of paid sick days. Legislation granting paid sick days has just been approved in Washington D.C. and continues to gain traction in Maine, Massachusetts and Ohio.

Learn how you can get involved by visiting www.PaidSickDaysCA.org.

Art Pulaski is Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, which represents 2.1 million members of 1,200 manufacturing, service, construction, and public sector unions.