EARNED SICK DAYS PHILLY BLOG

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

New Video on the Need for Sick Time in Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania over 2.2 million workers do not have the ability to earn paid sick days. These are some of their stories.



To listen to these and other stories please visit the Working Families Storybank.

A special thank you to WOMEN'S WAY, a member of the Coalition that put this video together.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Learn More About HB 1830

Interested in learning more about HB 1830, The Healthy Families, Healthy Workplaces Act? We have a one-page document that breaks down the definitions and use of earned sick days under that bill. 

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Fact Sheets

When people are sick, they are better off when they can be home or in the hospital, getting the care they need and preventing the spread of their illness. But in Pennsylvania, 46 percent of all workers have no access to earned sick time. If they or their family members get sick, they are stuck in a no-win situation: work sick, or stay home and lose their pay and possibly their jobs.


Supporting Earned Sick Time is as Easy as 1-2-3: Public Health - Smart Business - Economic Security

The Case for Paid Sick Days for Pennsylvania’s Workers

Working Women Need Paid Sick Days

Paid Sick Days are Good for Children’s Health

Paid Sick Days Improve Public Health

Victims of Domestic Violence, Stalking and Sexual Assault Need Paid Sick Days

Paid Sick Days Help Protect Economic Security for Working Families During the Recession

Paid Sick Days Make Good Business Sense

Paid Sick Days are Good for Caregivers

Paid Sick Days are Necessary to Manage Chronic Illness

Workers Caring for Older Relatives Need Paid Sick Days

Paid Sick Days: Busting the Myths

Working Families Need the Healthy Families Act

Everyone Gets Sick, Not Everyone Has Time To Get Better

Thank you to our friends at the National Partnership for Women and Families for putting together some of these fact sheets.

Studies/Reports

Paid Sick Days Can Help Contain Health Care Costs. 2010. Kevin Miller, Ph.D. Institute for Women Policy and Research

A look at how paid sick days can help lower health care costs in the United States. 

Paid Sick Leave Does Not Harm Employment. 2010. John Petro, Urban Policy Analyst.
Drum Major Institute for Public Policy

A close analysis of the latest employment data in San Francisco reveals that, despite the recession, the labor market there is performing better than in neighboring counties that do not have a paid sick leave law.


Policy Briefing Series: Opportunities for Policy Leadership on Paid Sick Days. 2007. Sloan Work and Family Research Network

The Policy Briefing Series (PBS) provides state legislators with information on implications of work-family policies and their effects on their constituents. The PBS on Paid Sick Days highlights what steps have been taken at the local, state, and national levels to guarantee paid sick days for workers.


The Work, Family, and Equity Index: Where Does the United States Measure Up? 2007. Jody Heymann, et al. Harvard School of Public Health, Project on Global Working Families, Boston, MA.

The Work, Family, and Equity Index is a cross-national comparison of work and family policies in 177 countries, with emphasis on how the U.S. compares to other nations. The Index concludes that the U.S. lags significantly behind other countries in its lack of access to paid sick days and paid family leave for workers.


No Time to be Sick: Why Everyone Suffers when Workers Don’t Have Paid Sick Leave. 2004. Vicky Lovell, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Washington, DC.

Lovell’s groundbreaking research investigates the availability of paid sick days in the U.S. by industry and demographic categories. Lovell finds that nearly half of all private-sector workers do not have a single paid sick day, and examines the ramifications for workers, families, businesses, and communities.


Getting Time Off: Access to Leave Among Working Parents. 2004, Katherin Ross Phillips, Urban Institute, Washington, DC.

Phillips’s report examines whether access to paid leave, including paid sick days, differs by socioeconomic status and finds that low-income workers have less access to all forms of leave. Phillips asserts that increasing access to paid leave would help provide economic security for many working parents.


Responsive Workplaces: The Business Case For Employment That Values Fairness and Families. 2007, Jodie Levin-Epstein, Center for Law and Social Policy.

The Responsive Workplaces issue brief frames work/life business practices not only as good social policy, but good business sense. This report provides examples of how businesses benefit from better workplace standards, through increased worker retention, higher productivity, and a healthier work environment.


Valuing Good Health: An Estimate of Costs and Savings for the Healthy Families Act. 2005. Vicky Lovell. Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Washington, DC.

Valuing Good Health presents a comprehensive estimate of the costs and savings associated with the Healthy Families Act, a federal bill that guarantees seven paid sick days per year to full-time workers. The report finds that if workers were provided just seven paid sick days per year, our national economy would experience a net savings of approximately $8 billion per year.


Here’s a Tip…When Restaurant and Hotel Workers Don’t Have Paid Sick Days, It Hurts Us All. 2007, Jodie Levin-Epstein, Center for Law and Social Policy, Washington, DC.

Levin-Epstein’s report examines the public health risks associated with the lack of paid sick days among low-wage accommodation and food industry workers. She argues that providing paid sick days for workers in all sectors would not only benefit workers’ health and their families, but public health, as well.


Thank you to our friends at the National Partnership for Women and Families for listing together some of these studies.

Paid Sick Days Legislation

San Francisco

In November 2006, the voters of San Francisco made their city the first jurisdiction in the country to pass a paid sick days ordinance and the law went into effect in June of 2007.

Under this law, workers are able to earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Workers in businesses with 10 or fewer employees earn up to five days per year, while workers at larger businesses earn nine days per year. The time can be used to care for a sick child, partner or designated loved one.



Washington DC

On March 4, 2008, the Washington, D.C. Council voted unanimously to pass legislation to provide workers in the District with paid sick and safe days. The bill went into effect in November 2008.

Workers in Washington, DC earn paid sick days to recover from illness, to care for a sick family member, to seek routine or preventative medical care, or to obtain assistance related to domestic violence or sexual assault.

Workers in businesses with 24 or fewer employees will earn up to three days of paid sick time, workers in businesses with 24-99 employees will earn up to five days of paid sick time, and workers in businesses with 100 or more employees will earn up to seven days of paid sick time.



To learn about these and other campaigns please visit The National Partnership for Women Families.