Good for business: Paid sick days level the playing field for workers

A report from ABC News examines the salary gap between working women with children and those without kids, finding that women with children earn just 75% of men’s wages (compared to 90% for women without kids) — on average, $11,000 less per year.

The report includes an interview with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director of MomsRising.org, asking her about pay discrimination against mothers — and how the playing field can be leveled to give all workers a fair shake.

“We have a 1950s work-policy structure, but we have a modern labor force… Now more than 50% of the labor force are women for the first time in history, but that doesn’t mean we’ve reached full equality,” said Kristin. “Passing family-friendly programs like family leave, like affordable childcare, like access to paid sick days, like access to flexible work options. Those things actually help lower the wage gap between women and men and they raise all boats– because it’s not just moms who need those policies.”

But paid sick days aren’t only good for moms, dads and workers without kids — paid sick days also make sense for businesses.

Allowing all workers — from waiters and waitresses, to nursing home staff, to childcare workers — to take a day off without penalty when they or they children get sick can save the business thousands of dollars in lost productivity, wages, and health care costs. Paid sick days help workers and businesses alike maintain economic stability, especially during times of economic uncertainty.

Read more: Paid sick days legislation makes sense for all businesses

Massachusetts mom finds out that even unpaid leave can cost you your job

Or as the Slate.com DoubleX blog puts it: Yes, You Can Get Fired After Taking Maternity Leave: The confusing state of family-leave policies.

Sandy Stephens got pregnant when she was working in housekeeping for a company known as Global NAPs Inc. in Massachusetts. Her supervisor at the small telecommunications firm had told her that she could take unpaid maternity leave longer than eight weeks if she gave birth by cesarean section. Stephens did wind up having a C-section, and so she stayed home for 11 weeks. Yet, when she returned to her job, she found she had been fired.

It’s the kind of “misunderstanding” that takes place all the time. The postpartum deal is struck, the baby comes, and then—whoops!—human resources has no record of the agreement. The story often ends up with a confused, angry, and suddenly unemployed new mother quietly accepting her fate. In this case, though, Stephens decided to sue; and last week the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court handed her a decision that is a depressing, if not surprising, reminder of the sorry state of parental-leave policy in this country.

Read the full story here.

A Rising Tide: How your neighbor’s paid sick days protect your quality of life — and economic opportunity for all

While “I’ve got mine” is an easy attitude to cop, there’s evidence that getting ahead alone isn’t as beneficial to you as making sure others can do the same. The national discussion over a minimum paid sick days work standard offers insight into why that is the case.

First, consider this question posed by Scope (the Stanford School of Medicine blog) about paid sick days and the public good:

I live in a small house with eight friends, six chickens and a puppy. When one of us gets sick, many others follow suit. (So far, we’ve avoided any cross-species bugs.) Over the last few weeks, a nasty cold made the rounds, prompting an informal discussion about when it’s appropriate to miss work: If you’re not feeling well, is it best for some general good to stay home or trudge to the office, red nose and handkerchief in tow? That question, of course, assumes an individual has the luxury of considering the greater good.

It turns out that “considering the greater good” is indeed a luxury for many workers, especially since very few low-wage workers have the opportunity to earn paid sick days on the job. And that has a very direct impact on the family budget.

Continue reading “A Rising Tide: How your neighbor’s paid sick days protect your quality of life — and economic opportunity for all”