So, Are We Ready to Pass Sick Leave Legislation Yet?

Note: I wrote this before the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation related to SARS-CoV-2. The legislation includes two weeks of paid sick leave for workers who have to be quarantined or treated for COVID-19. It also includes paid leave at two-thirds salary for people who need more than 14 days to recover or who must care for someone else because of the current pandemic. The Senate is expected to pass the bill this week, and President Trump has said he will sign it.

This is a step in the right direction, but the legislation is temporary and only covers COVID-19. Therefore, while it can help the immediate situation, it doesn’t address future epidemics. What I wrote in the first section below still applies in the long-run.

Americans need paid sick leave.

With COVID-19 all over the news these days, we’re beginning to realize just how important it is to stay home from work when you’re sick. But that’s hard to do if you’re struggling to pay the bills and don’t have paid sick leave. Too many workers, particularly low-wage workers, are forced to choose between staying home when they are sick or losing pay.

Worse, in many states people can be fired for calling in sick, unless their absence is covered under a law such as the Family Medical Leave Act. This leaves many workers, including service workers with whom we interact every day, with no choice but to work when they ought to stay home.

If the U.S. would pass laws requiring employers to provide paid sick leave to employees, we would take a giant step forward toward helping prevent the spread of disease. Clearly, it’s time for us to catch up to the rest of the world.

Those of us who have paid sick leave need to be willing to use it.

Legislation is just the first step. We also need workers to use the sick leave they have.

I’ll confess that I am one of those people who has gone to work when I should have stayed home. Please, Kate. Who is going to die if you don’t come into the office? On the other hand, who might pick up that nasty virus if you don’t stay home?

Of course when someone else comes in sick, I mutter to myself, “Why are they here, spreading their germs around?”

We Americans believe strongly that we have to demonstrate what dedicated workers we are by showing up and powering through, even if we’re ill. (Incidentally, if we’re afraid to take our sick leave, we have a good reason. When I Googled “fired calling in sick,” one related search that popped up was “how to stop employees from calling in sick.”)

Going to work while sick has a definite downside — beyond the fact that it can slow our recovery. Every time we come in sick, we risk the health of our colleagues. We also exert unspoken peer pressure. If Sam comes in sick, then when Terry gets sick, they’ll feel like they should come in too.

It’s time for people like me to vow to reform. If you have sick leave and/or the flexibility to work from home, stop coming in sick. I can see making exceptions to that rule. If you aren’t seriously ill, you probably don’t want to call in sick when you’re starting a new job or have an important, time-sensitive task that cannot be done from home. But be careful not to think that all of your duties are of critical importance. There might be hiccups in our workplace without us, but business will go on.

And if you’re a manager, please set a good example. Stay home when you’re sick. If an employee comes in sick, encourage — perhaps even require — them to go home. If an employee calls in sick, trust them. In all my years at work, I can think of three colleagues who may have been abusing sick leave. I’ve known far more people who have come in when they should have stayed home. I have every reason to believe that most people will not abuse the system if you err on the side of trust.