White House aides offer Trump policy options for coronavirus response, including paid sick leave
“Getting sick just throws a monkey wrench in your plans,” said Talley, who worked as a nurse for 25 years. Over the same period, more than dozen other states have passed legislation forbidding any such mandates, regardless of whether the people of a city or county want the requirement. Those states include: Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin.
Even when states mandate sick pay, however, many workers can remain without it. Companies that hire people as “contractors” rather than “employees” say they are not obliged to offer sick pay. Anderson figures she has to make at least $60 a day to cover monthly expenses and pay rent on her one-bedroom apartment, which she moved into last summer after a year of sleeping on friends’ couches and in her car.
“I don’t think anybody working this job full time — and there are a lot of us — would definitely stay home because of a cough,” Anderson said.Last week, Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro introduced legislation to immediately provide paid sick days to workers. The legislation requires employers to allow workers to accrue seven days of paid sick leave each year and to provide an additional 14 days available immediately in the event of a public health emergency.
Using two independent data sets on flu outbreaks — one from Google and the other from the CDC — the researchers found that, in both cases, places that imposed sick pay requirements reduced flu cases by about 10 percent or more.
Starting to feel that these corporate 'people' ain't my friend