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More than 46 million U.S. workers don't have paid sick days. As the AP reports, that translates to about 43 percent of people working for private companies, and most of them are low-paid employees at small businesses, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. It's lousy going to work when you're sick, but having to push yourself into work because you can't afford to take the time off to get better is really lousy. Twelves states, including California, Connecticut, Minnesota and West Virginia, are considering legislation that would require businesses to offer them. The laws would make taking paid sick time a given, like the federal minimum wage law.
Of course, small businesses and the lobbying groups that support them don't want a government mandate telling them to pay employees for days they are not at work. But the fact is, we all get sick. Large companies offer sick days for a reason. Sick days should never be abused or treated as personal days or vacation, and I'm sure most small employers would keep careful tabs on employees who abuse paid sick time. But being sick and worried about losing pay, or worse, losing your job, can only make a worker less productive, and possibly more sick. And what about the germ-spreading effect sick workers can have on co-workers when they barrel into work because they can't lose pay?
Seems like common sense to me. But what do you think? Is mandating paid sick time too much to ask a small business? Do you get paid if you take a sick day, and if not, what do you do when you're sick?
