Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws
NEW YORK (AP) - Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.
A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best - and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home the next day, then loaded up on medicine and returned to work.
"It's a balancing act" between physical health and financial well-being, she said.
An unusually early and vigorous flu season is drawing attention to a cause that has scored victories but also hit roadblocks in recent years: mandatory paid sick leave for the 40 percent of American private-sector workers - more than 40 million people - who don't have it.
Supporters and opponents are particularly watching New York City, where lawmakers are weighing a sick leave proposal amid a competitive mayoral race.
Pointing to a flu outbreak that the governor has called a public health emergency, dozens of doctors, nurses, lawmakers and activists - some in surgical masks - rallied Friday on the City Hall steps to call for passage of the measure, which has awaited a City Council vote for nearly three years. Two likely mayoral contenders have also pressed the point.
The flu spike is making people more aware of the argument for sick pay, said Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values at Work, which promotes paid sick time initiatives around the country. "There's people who say, 'OK, I get it - you don't want your server coughing on your food,'" she said.
Advocates have cast paid sick time as both a workforce issue akin to parental leave and "living wage" laws, and a public health priority.
But to some business owners, paid sick leave is an impractical and unfair burden for small operations. Critics also say the timing is bad, given the choppy economy and the hardships inflicted by Superstorm Sandy.
Michael Sinesky, an owner of seven bars and restaurants around the city, was against the sick time proposal before Sandy. And after the storm shut down four of his restaurants for days or weeks, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars that his insurers have yet to pay, "we're in survival mode."
"We're at the point, right now, where we cannot afford additional social initiatives," said Sinesky, whose roughly 500 employees switch shifts if they can't work, an arrangement that some restaurateurs say benefits workers because paid sick time wouldn't include tips.
Employees without sick days are more likely to go to work with a contagious illness, send an ill child to school or day care and use hospital emergency rooms for care, according to a 2010 survey by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. A 2011 study in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that a lack of sick time helped spread 5 million cases of flu-like illness during the 2009 swine flu outbreak.
To be sure, many employees entitled to sick time go to work ill anyway, out of dedication or at least a desire to project it. But the work-through-it ethic is shifting somewhat amid growing awareness about spreading sickness.
"Right now, where companies' incentives lie is butting right up against this concern over people coming into the workplace, infecting others and bringing productivity of a whole company down," said John A. Challenger, CEO of employer consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Paid sick day requirements are often popular in polls, but only four places have them: San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and the state of Connecticut. The specific provisions vary.
Milwaukee voters approved a sick time requirement in 2008, but the state Legislature passed a law blocking it. Philadelphia's mayor vetoed a sick leave measure in 2011; lawmakers have since instituted a sick time requirement for businesses with city contracts. Voters rejected a paid sick day measure in Denver in 2011.
In New York, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer's proposal would require up to five paid sick days a year at businesses with at least five employees. It wouldn't include independent contractors, such as Zavala, who supports the idea nonetheless.
The idea boasts such supporters as feminist Gloria Steinem and "Sex and the City" actress Cynthia Nixon, as well as a majority of City Council members and a coalition of unions, women's groups and public health advocates. But it also faces influential opponents, including business groups, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who has virtually complete control over what matters come to a vote.
Quinn, who is expected to run for mayor, said she considers paid sick leave a worthy goal but doesn't think it would be wise to implement it in a sluggish economy. Two of her likely opponents, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu, have reiterated calls for paid sick leave in light of the flu season.
While the debate plays out, Emilio Palaguachi is recovering from the flu and looking for a job. The father of four was abruptly fired without explanation earlier this month from his job at a deli after taking a day off to go to a doctor, he said. His former employer couldn't be reached by telephone.
"I needed work," Palaguachi said after Friday's City Hall rally, but "I needed to see the doctor because I'm sick."
___
Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.
___
Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws
Eds: Updates throughout with details, background, quotes. With AP Photos.
JENNIFER PELTZ
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.
A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best - and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home the next day, then loaded up on medicine and returned to work.
"It's a balancing act" between physical health and financial well-being, she said.
An unusually early and vigorous flu season is drawing attention to a cause that has scored victories but also hit roadblocks in recent years: mandatory paid sick leave for the 40 percent of American private-sector workers - more than 40 million people - who don't have it.
Supporters and opponents are particularly watching New York City, where lawmakers are weighing a sick leave proposal amid a competitive mayoral race.
Pointing to a flu outbreak that the governor has called a public health emergency, dozens of doctors, nurses, lawmakers and activists - some in surgical masks - rallied Friday on the City Hall steps to call for passage of the measure, which has awaited a City Council vote for nearly three years. Two likely mayoral contenders have also pressed the point.
The flu spike is making people more aware of the argument for sick pay, said Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values at Work, which promotes paid sick time initiatives around the country. "There's people who say, 'OK, I get it - you don't want your server coughing on your food,'" she said.
Advocates have cast paid sick time as both a workforce issue akin to parental leave and "living wage" laws, and a public health priority.
But to some business owners, paid sick leave is an impractical and unfair burden for small operations. Critics also say the timing is bad, given the choppy economy and the hardships inflicted by Superstorm Sandy.
Michael Sinesky, an owner of seven bars and restaurants around the city, was against the sick time proposal before Sandy. And after the storm shut down four of his restaurants for days or weeks, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars that his insurers have yet to pay, "we're in survival mode."
"We're at the point, right now, where we cannot afford additional social initiatives," said Sinesky, whose roughly 500 employees switch shifts if they can't work, an arrangement that some restaurateurs say benefits workers because paid sick time wouldn't include tips.
Employees without sick days are more likely to go to work with a contagious illness, send an ill child to school or day care and use hospital emergency rooms for care, according to a 2010 survey by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. A 2011 study in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that a lack of sick time helped spread 5 million cases of flu-like illness during the 2009 swine flu outbreak.
To be sure, many employees entitled to sick time go to work ill anyway, out of dedication or at least a desire to project it. But the work-through-it ethic is shifting somewhat amid growing awareness about spreading sickness.
"Right now, where companies' incentives lie is butting right up against this concern over people coming into the workplace, infecting others and bringing productivity of a whole company down," said John A. Challenger, CEO of employer consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Paid sick day requirements are often popular in polls, but only four places have them: San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and the state of Connecticut. The specific provisions vary.
Milwaukee voters approved a sick time requirement in 2008, but the state Legislature passed a law blocking it. Philadelphia's mayor vetoed a sick leave measure in 2011; lawmakers have since instituted a sick time requirement for businesses with city contracts. Voters rejected a paid sick day measure in Denver in 2011.
In New York, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer's proposal would require up to five paid sick days a year at businesses with at least five employees. It wouldn't include independent contractors, such as Zavala, who supports the idea nonetheless.
The idea boasts such supporters as feminist Gloria Steinem and "Sex and the City" actress Cynthia Nixon, as well as a majority of City Council members and a coalition of unions, women's groups and public health advocates. But it also faces influential opponents, including business groups, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who has virtually complete control over what matters come to a vote.
Quinn, who is expected to run for mayor, said she considers paid sick leave a worthy goal but doesn't think it would be wise to implement it in a sluggish economy. Two of her likely opponents, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu, have reiterated calls for paid sick leave in light of the flu season.
While the debate plays out, Emilio Palaguachi is recovering from the flu and looking for a job. The father of four was abruptly fired without explanation earlier this month from his job at a deli after taking a day off to go to a doctor, he said. His former employer couldn't be reached by telephone.
"I needed work," Palaguachi said after Friday's City Hall rally, but "I needed to see the doctor because I'm sick."
___
Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.
A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best - and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home the next day, then loaded up on medicine and returned to work.
"It's a balancing act" between physical health and financial well-being, she said.
An unusually early and vigorous flu season is drawing attention to a cause that has scored victories but also hit roadblocks in recent years: mandatory paid sick leave for the 40 percent of American private-sector workers - more than 40 million people - who don't have it.
Supporters and opponents are particularly watching New York City, where lawmakers are weighing a sick leave proposal amid a competitive mayoral race.
Pointing to a flu outbreak that the governor has called a public health emergency, dozens of doctors, nurses, lawmakers and activists - some in surgical masks - rallied Friday on the City Hall steps to call for passage of the measure, which has awaited a City Council vote for nearly three years. Two likely mayoral contenders have also pressed the point.
The flu spike is making people more aware of the argument for sick pay, said Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values at Work, which promotes paid sick time initiatives around the country. "There's people who say, 'OK, I get it - you don't want your server coughing on your food,'" she said.
Advocates have cast paid sick time as both a workforce issue akin to parental leave and "living wage" laws, and a public health priority.
But to some business owners, paid sick leave is an impractical and unfair burden for small operations. Critics also say the timing is bad, given the choppy economy and the hardships inflicted by Superstorm Sandy.
Michael Sinesky, an owner of seven bars and restaurants around the city, was against the sick time proposal before Sandy. And after the storm shut down four of his restaurants for days or weeks, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars that his insurers have yet to pay, "we're in survival mode."
"We're at the point, right now, where we cannot afford additional social initiatives," said Sinesky, whose roughly 500 employees switch shifts if they can't work, an arrangement that some restaurateurs say benefits workers because paid sick time wouldn't include tips.
Employees without sick days are more likely to go to work with a contagious illness, send an ill child to school or day care and use hospital emergency rooms for care, according to a 2010 survey by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. A 2011 study in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that a lack of sick time helped spread 5 million cases of flu-like illness during the 2009 swine flu outbreak.
To be sure, many employees entitled to sick time go to work ill anyway, out of dedication or at least a desire to project it. But the work-through-it ethic is shifting somewhat amid growing awareness about spreading sickness.
"Right now, where companies' incentives lie is butting right up against this concern over people coming into the workplace, infecting others and bringing productivity of a whole company down," said John A. Challenger, CEO of employer consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Paid sick day requirements are often popular in polls, but only four places have them: San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and the state of Connecticut. The specific provisions vary.
Milwaukee voters approved a sick time requirement in 2008, but the state Legislature passed a law blocking it. Philadelphia's mayor vetoed a sick leave measure in 2011; lawmakers have since instituted a sick time requirement for businesses with city contracts. Voters rejected a paid sick day measure in Denver in 2011.
In New York, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer's proposal would require up to five paid sick days a year at businesses with at least five employees. It wouldn't include independent contractors, such as Zavala, who supports the idea nonetheless.
The idea boasts such supporters as feminist Gloria Steinem and "Sex and the City" actress Cynthia Nixon, as well as a majority of City Council members and a coalition of unions, women's groups and public health advocates. But it also faces influential opponents, including business groups, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who has virtually complete control over what matters come to a vote.
Quinn, who is expected to run for mayor, said she considers paid sick leave a worthy goal but doesn't think it would be wise to implement it in a sluggish economy. Two of her likely opponents, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu, have reiterated calls for paid sick leave in light of the flu season.
While the debate plays out, Emilio Palaguachi is recovering from the flu and looking for a job. The father of four was abruptly fired without explanation earlier this month from his job at a deli after taking a day off to go to a doctor, he said. His former employer couldn't be reached by telephone.
"I needed work," Palaguachi said after Friday's City Hall rally, but "I needed to see the doctor because I'm sick."
___
Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.
___
Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws
Eds: Updates throughout with details, background, quotes. With AP Photos.
JENNIFER PELTZ
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.
A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best - and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home the next day, then loaded up on medicine and returned to work.
"It's a balancing act" between physical health and financial well-being, she said.
An unusually early and vigorous flu season is drawing attention to a cause that has scored victories but also hit roadblocks in recent years: mandatory paid sick leave for the 40 percent of American private-sector workers - more than 40 million people - who don't have it.
Supporters and opponents are particularly watching New York City, where lawmakers are weighing a sick leave proposal amid a competitive mayoral race.
Pointing to a flu outbreak that the governor has called a public health emergency, dozens of doctors, nurses, lawmakers and activists - some in surgical masks - rallied Friday on the City Hall steps to call for passage of the measure, which has awaited a City Council vote for nearly three years. Two likely mayoral contenders have also pressed the point.
The flu spike is making people more aware of the argument for sick pay, said Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values at Work, which promotes paid sick time initiatives around the country. "There's people who say, 'OK, I get it - you don't want your server coughing on your food,'" she said.
Advocates have cast paid sick time as both a workforce issue akin to parental leave and "living wage" laws, and a public health priority.
But to some business owners, paid sick leave is an impractical and unfair burden for small operations. Critics also say the timing is bad, given the choppy economy and the hardships inflicted by Superstorm Sandy.
Michael Sinesky, an owner of seven bars and restaurants around the city, was against the sick time proposal before Sandy. And after the storm shut down four of his restaurants for days or weeks, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars that his insurers have yet to pay, "we're in survival mode."
"We're at the point, right now, where we cannot afford additional social initiatives," said Sinesky, whose roughly 500 employees switch shifts if they can't work, an arrangement that some restaurateurs say benefits workers because paid sick time wouldn't include tips.
Employees without sick days are more likely to go to work with a contagious illness, send an ill child to school or day care and use hospital emergency rooms for care, according to a 2010 survey by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. A 2011 study in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that a lack of sick time helped spread 5 million cases of flu-like illness during the 2009 swine flu outbreak.
To be sure, many employees entitled to sick time go to work ill anyway, out of dedication or at least a desire to project it. But the work-through-it ethic is shifting somewhat amid growing awareness about spreading sickness.
"Right now, where companies' incentives lie is butting right up against this concern over people coming into the workplace, infecting others and bringing productivity of a whole company down," said John A. Challenger, CEO of employer consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Paid sick day requirements are often popular in polls, but only four places have them: San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and the state of Connecticut. The specific provisions vary.
Milwaukee voters approved a sick time requirement in 2008, but the state Legislature passed a law blocking it. Philadelphia's mayor vetoed a sick leave measure in 2011; lawmakers have since instituted a sick time requirement for businesses with city contracts. Voters rejected a paid sick day measure in Denver in 2011.
In New York, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer's proposal would require up to five paid sick days a year at businesses with at least five employees. It wouldn't include independent contractors, such as Zavala, who supports the idea nonetheless.
The idea boasts such supporters as feminist Gloria Steinem and "Sex and the City" actress Cynthia Nixon, as well as a majority of City Council members and a coalition of unions, women's groups and public health advocates. But it also faces influential opponents, including business groups, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who has virtually complete control over what matters come to a vote.
Quinn, who is expected to run for mayor, said she considers paid sick leave a worthy goal but doesn't think it would be wise to implement it in a sluggish economy. Two of her likely opponents, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu, have reiterated calls for paid sick leave in light of the flu season.
While the debate plays out, Emilio Palaguachi is recovering from the flu and looking for a job. The father of four was abruptly fired without explanation earlier this month from his job at a deli after taking a day off to go to a doctor, he said. His former employer couldn't be reached by telephone.
"I needed work," Palaguachi said after Friday's City Hall rally, but "I needed to see the doctor because I'm sick."
___
Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.
 Employees have their hours reduced so the employer does not have to offer sick leave; or the employer only fills vacancies with tempory help. or simply doesn't hire choosing to do more with less.  got it. so the silver lining in 2013 is the affordable health care act so at least families can get timely and high quality heath care for their ills?  Have we met the enemy yet?Â
When I was in my early 20's, I worked in fast food. Â I managed to contract pinkeye and had a note from my doctor indicating how long I should be off work. Â It was one day too long to my manager, who demanded I come back to work earlier than the note indicated, despite my ragingly contagious condition. Â Cherry on top? Â She put me on the register, where I could surely infect the most people possible.Â
I want to bring up one huge issue that bosses do not look at. I am one that feels if you are sick then you need to stay home because if you go to work and are around your co-workers and then they get sick and then bring it home to their families and the cycle continues. This is crazy I know this one well as my my exfiance' would get on a bus go to work where others would be sick and he would always bring it home to me and I would always get what ever was going around. When does the cycle end?
The issue is NOT whether you should stay home if you are sick, the issue is who will pay for it. If the government mandates the employer to pay for it, then two things the employer will most likely to counter and offset the extra costs: pass the expense back to customers and/or cut other payroll expenses: reduce bonus or vacation hours, less pay raise, no retirement matching, etc.. Simple as that,
@StillBlameBush
".... pass the expense back to customers and/or cut other payroll expenses: reduce bonus or vacation hours, less pay raise, no retirement matching, etc ...."
Â
They are already doing all of that.
When your boss/company does right by you, you do right by them. I once went to the Dr. for a repetitious motion injury and the Dr. wanted to write me a note saying I had to take a week off. I told the Dr. no, that I loved my job and would try to work around the injury while I went through therapy. I even had 10 days sick time a year with the company and never took more than a couple that were really needed.Â
@Darn it!
".... When your boss/company does right by you, you do right by them ...."
Â
EXACTLY!
Â
And when a company treats you like crap, like they shouldn't have to bother with you, when they expect you to work "no matter what", you can guess how the employees feel about the company.
Even when companies offer paid sick leave, they sometimes do all in their power to "discourage" an employee from taking it.Â
Â
I used to work for a company that gave us 10 days per year of paid sick leave - but woe be unto you if you dared to actually use it. You could expect a call from the boss asking you if you are REALLY sick, and demanding to know why you could not come in anyhow.Â
Â
She came to work sick, so she expected everyone else to do so as well.. The big difference being, she could sit in her office all day and not hvae to interact with the public, while the rest of us were talking to them all day long.
Â
Once, I had a very severe case of laryngitis, could barely talk. She believed that as long as I could make some sort of sound, even if it cause me pain & people could not understand me, I should be at work taking calls. I had to have my doctor actually call her & tell her in no uncertain terms that it would take much longer for m to get well if I was not allowed to take time off, and that it could cause permanent damaged if I continued working. She grudingly let me have time off at that point.
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I took 4 days off to care for my son. His ear drums had ruptured, and he ended up having to have his adenoids out. He was running a 103 fever & projectile vomiting. She asked why I had to saty home with him, why I couldn't come to work - he was 10 years old!Â
Â
She was a very micro-managing boss. Hell, even when she went on vacation & travelled to Florida, she took her company laptop so she could sign in every day & moniter us, "to make sure everything is okay". Like we couldn't survive without herÂ
Â
So, it's not just having the sick leave available - paid or unpaid. It is being allowed to use it without penalty or harassment, such as the gentleman in the last part of the story who was fired after taking a day off to go to the doctor.
@LocalLady I have worked a lot of job in my life and I don't remember one that wanted employees there when they were sick. Guess I have been lucky.
Â
 @msouthj:Â
Thre REALLY sad part of that job - I was working for a health insurance/benefits company. You would think that someone in that particular "industry" would be more aware of what happens when sick people come to work & spread their germs around!
Â
This same company terminated me for "missing too much work" - when I came down with pnuemonia & a collapsed lung.
Â
So much for "understanding employers".
 @LocalLady I worked at a movie theater between 16-18 and even though I had no sick leave I got bronchitis bad enough that I couldn't stop coughing up giant gloops of phlegm for more than 5 minutes. I was basically told I would be fired if I didn't come in. So I go into work. After 4 hours I ended up sitting on the ground crying in the back because I just couldn't talk anymore, I couldn't do my job, and I was afraid to lose my job.  My boss actually finally walked in, yelled at me to go home and told me to get better. Didn't lose my job but it was stressful as heck.(I was trying to save money to escape my abusive household so I didn't feel like losing the job was an option)
what about a substitute gig??
Â
if a resteraunt manager could call upon substitute worker, X, to replace Sarah for three days? Terms -Â X gets paid 75%, Sarah - 25%, Sarah gets some pay (not all obviously) and doesn't have to worry about being fired while she recovers.
I get 2 paid sick days for a calender year. In order to use them, I have to get a doctor's note. The doctor's office doesn't want people with the flu to go to their offices. There has a to be a better way.
 @kockatoo That sucks. So does having to get dressed and go out to see the Dr. when you have the flu. That is what I would do though, because it is up to the Dr. to diagnose your illness, not you. I feel for ya.
aflac......aflac......aflac. I do not work for them, but at least is a backup plan.
I always get flu from people who come in sick and spread it around. This time I am taking the action back to the enemy. I get sick, I go to office, I wheeze and sneeze and return the favor with a vengeance.
Â
Who needs sick leave. I say we all go to work, spread the bug and enhance immunity!!! yay!!!! :DÂ
 @NickM1979 "I always get flu from people who come in sick and spread it around"
You know, there IS an app for that...it's called a flu shot.
If you want sick time then find a company that offers it. It is called a benifets package people. If ya don't like the fact that your employer does not offer sick pay, holiday pay, 401k or a damn Christmas party then find another place to work.
 @msouthj Employers who insist that sick workers come in anyway get what they deserve - the entire staff sick, and production sucks!
 @msouthj I love how you try and equate sick time with christmas parties. Â
Â
classy.Â
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@T H I S You obviously missed my point.
@T H I S I have been there, I had a great career with great bennies and even better money, then got laid off and ended getting a job where I flipped burgers while I went back to school. Now I am an EMT with a great career that I enjoy. What I was trying to say in my previous posts is that you do have a choice. You have a choice to accept that job and do that job to the best of your ability until something better comes along or you can not accept that job and continue being one of the people saying there is not jobs out there.
 @msouthj Let them eat cake!!
 @al_wa  @msouthj Have you seen what they put in cake these days? Enriched "wheat", artificial color AND taste, and other things I'd rather not think about...
 @msouthj Perhaps you did not read the part in the article where 40% of American private sector jobs do not offer sick leave.  Go find another job...yeah right.  Because there are so many to choose from.
@stamperzann There are lots of jobs out there if you actually look.
 @msouthj Are you serious. "Find a company that offers it."? So what do you think someone who desperately needs a job and has to take whatever they get comes home and says, "hey babe, I finally got a job, and guess what it doesn't have any benefits, but that's just fine"?.You're must be well off and for sure are ignorant!  Millions of people are forced to work jobs without decent pay or benefits out of desperation. Jeez, go buy yourself a clue!
@Educatethyself That is the attitude that is killing this country. The American way is you work hard for what you want in life. If you want sick pay or PTO then go get a job that offers it. I don't think the regular crew staff at McDonalds need to have sick pay. And what that person who just got that job should say to their spouse is "hey babe, I finally got a job but it does not have sick days but this is just a stepping stone to some thing better." Too which said spouse will reply with "Yes honey good job, this will make things easier for now and we can all get flu shots to decrease our chances of needing a sick day. I love you Dear."
@OrcasThunder @Educatethyself I don't get what you are saying about buying into the big lie of the corps and I don't get what is so hard to understand about what I am saying. It is simple, if you don't like your crappy job for this reason or that reason find a new one. Don't go crying about it, do something about it and get a better job. And don't tell me there are not jobs out there. There are hella jobs out there.
 @msouthj  @Educatethyself "That is the attitude that is killing this country."
Man, do they have your number or what? You actually buy into the big lie of the corporations...And when you get within 10 years of retirement age, don't let the door hit your backside when they find someone younger and willing to work longer hours for less pay...
 @msouthj Exactly. If an employer doesn't care about the well-being of his employees and customers don't work for him. Pretty soon all the employer will be able to hire is people that don't care about their job. Why should employees care when the boss obviously doesn't?
My company provides sick time, and also Community Transit bus passes in an effort to "Be Green, and leave a smaller carbon footprint." I'm glad I have the sick time because during flu season, I ride what I like to call "The Giant Petri Dish." People who have no sick time provided by their companies cram onto the busses sick as dogs, coughing, sneezing, hacking, and many times don't even bother to cover their mouths, putting others in direct contact with the virus of the day, and spread it around. If more companies offered sick time, "flu epidemics" wouldn't be nearly as severe, and as overhyped as the Flu is this year, they should call it "The AR-15 Virus." Flock to your nearest pharmacy and get your shot now, or you may surely die of influenza!!!
This entire article has nothing to do with sick time. After all your never going to make businesses cover sick hours unless they want too. This is an issue about trying to yet again scare everybody into forced vaccines. After all that's the really problem here right? NOT. So sick of zombies that buy into this ridiculous health scare. Its such a fraud on every level.Â
 @snow surfer This article is specifically about sick time.
Try going back for the last two years and read the endless drivel on attempted forced vaccinations, then reread this article and put the pieces together. Its called reading between the lines. I really could care less what the title of the article says. I care about what I know government is trying to do.Â
 @1997burb  @Darn it!  @snow surfer That's the point of the article - that a lot of people simply can't afford to take the time, or their bosses won't let them.
 @1997burb  @snow surfer That's what I said. Respect is a two way street. It sounds like your management style isn't working for you. There are many good management courses available.Â
 @Darn it!  @snow surfer Personal integrity and work ethics.  AKA, "earned respect".
 @1997burb  @snow surfer You are wrong. Did you miss the part where I spoke about personal integrity and work ethics? That is what will earn the respect of your boss. If your employees are walking all over you it is because you don't treat them with respect.
@Darn it!@snow surfer
Obviously, you're not a boss or even supervise anyone.
Respect is earned, otherwise the employees just walk all over you.
Â
 @1997burb  @snow surfer IMHO it comes down to personal integrity and work ethics. Also if you are treated with respect and as a valued employee by your employer you will work harder.
 @Darn it!  @snow surfer Darn It! said,  "Maybe that's your style but for many hardworking people that is not an option."  Â
 @1997burb  @snow surfer What is your point? Snow Surfer was insinuating that this article was really about the government forcing everyone to get vaccinations. I disagree.
 @Darn it!  @snow surfer So, no one ever takes a day off when not sick, broken bone, toothache, etc?
 @1997burb  @Darn it!  @snow surfer Honestly, since i've worked in a place with paid sick time i've maybe only seen that once and that was after a sort of team party in which our boss just kept filling our glasses because she was paying and wanted everyone to have a good time. She proceeded to give those of us who couldn't make in the next day a ton of crap.Â
 @1997burb  @snow surfer Maybe that's your style but for many hardworking people that is not an option.Â
 @Darn it!  @snow surfer ...party, hangover, Friday...
 @snow surfer This isn't just about vaccines. There are many other reasons for a person to call in sick. Like a toothache or a broken bone, food poisoning. etc.Â
 @Darn it! Its not a conspiracy when government openly states such things.Â
 @snow surfer If it's not one conspiracy theory it's another!
 @snow surfer"your never going to make businesses cover sick hours unless they want too."
Do you believe the business in Seattle "wanted" this law?
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http://www.seattle.gov/civilrights/sickleave.htm