News and Views: No paid sick leave may hasten spread of H1N1 virus

Swine flu — and no paid sick leave: As the H1N1 swine flu virus starts its second major sweep through the U.S., business owners are bracing for the impact of a worse-than-usual flu season on their workforces. That’s reviving debate on a contentious issue: What kind of sick leave should companies offer employees — and should it be mandated by law? | CNN Money

Dickensian sick leave abets the swine flu: Guess what happens when a global flu pandemic meets sick leave rules straight out of the world of Charles Dickens? Workers get sick. More workers get sick. Customers get sick. Bosses who thought they were making money by forcing sick employees to work wind up losing money instead. | Tacoma News Tribune

Moms to U.S. Senate: “We’re Trapped in the Last Century”

From Washington News Service:

Washington, DC – Many working families are victims of a corporate culture and public policies that were forged in the middle of the last century, when Dads went to work and Moms cared for the kids at home, according to the National Association of Mothers’ Centers. “Bring us into the 21st Century!” is the message they gave this week to a U.S. Senate work group looking into work/life reforms. The Association’s executive director, Linda Lisi-Juergens, says today’s employees can’t juggle fast enough.

In Washington, for instance, less than half of full-time workers and only 12 percent of part-timers have paid sick days. Juergens says adding some workplace flexibility should not be viewed as running “counter” to the interests of business. Studies show that when companies are more flexible, it enhances their employees’ morale and productivity.

Your (wo)man in Washington is covering progress of the three bills under consideration by Congress that would promote family economic security:

  • The Healthy Families Act (which would guarantee workers can earn up to 7 days of sick leave per year)
  • The Family Leave Insurance Act of 2009 (which would ensure 12 weeks of paid benefits for the handful of times workers need extended time off care for a sick family member, a new baby, or the worker’s own illness), and
  • The FIRST Act (which would provide start-up funding to states for family leave insurance)

Washington families could be first in line for benefits from the FIRST Act

The FIRST Act (Family Income to Respond to Significant Transitions) authorizes $1.5 billion in grant funding to states to seed new programs or to bolster existing paid leave programs. States without an existing program would receive a start-up grant to develop and implement a program for up to a three-year period, along with a grant to fund 50 percent of wage replacement for paid parental leave for a six month period.

However, states that develop programs providing leave for additional purposes—such as paid family leave to care for a seriously-ill family member, injured service member in their family or paid medical leave to recover from a worker’s own serious illness — will receive additional funding. States with existing paid leave programs can apply for grants, to fund outreach and education or to offer incentives to small businesses to also guarantee job protection to workers on leave.

Washington is the second state to pass family leave insurance, and would be first in line to receive funding from the FIRST Act if passed by Congress. California added paid family leave to its long-standing temporary disability insurance (TDI) program in 2004 and New Jersey will do the same in July 2009. Three other states – New York, Rhode Island, and Hawaii – have TDI programs that include paid leave following childbirth, but have not yet added paid family leave.