People Want Their Paid Sick Days, Dammit

Ever watch a restaurant staffer sneeze and sniffle while they handled your food? That server or fry cook probably belonged to the 75% of low-wage workers nationwide who don't receive paid sick days. Now, just in time for Labor Day, the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago has released results of a survey in which 86 percent of respondents said paid sick days should be required by law. Funded by the Public Welfare Foundation in Washington, D.C., the survey revealed that 68 percent of workers without paid sick days reported going to work with the flu or some other contagious illness. (Then again, 53% of the workers polled who did receive paid sick days also showed up on the job while sick. Pressure from the boss, maybe?) One in six workers say they or a family member has been punished, threatened, suspended or fired by an employer due to illness. Achoo on that for size.