Daily Dose of Common Sense

There are tens of millions of workers in the U.S. who do not receive any paid sick leave. That means that about 40% of Americans either have to work while ill or take the hit to their paychecks. For people living paycheck-to-paycheck, this usually means sucking it up, taking some cold medication, and heading to work. And you know who’s catching what they have? Everyone else.

This is one reason that public officials are very worried about this flu season. Many of the workers in this category are waiters, child care employees, office temps, and cashiers. They’re handling your food, your kids, and your money. That means germs are spreading at the speed of light.

You can hardly blame John/Julie Q. Worker who doesn’t get sick leave. Yes, he/she should stay home but what if he/she fears being fired, or can’t afford to take the pay hit? And, you can hardly blame struggling Small Q. Business, who can’t afford to pay workers for not working. But, businesses should at least help sick workers make up the hours lost with additional hours later on.

So, shame on bigger companies like Wal-Mart (who can afford sick leave) for not treating this issue with the seriousness it deserves.

Workers at many retailers and restaurants say their employers’ policies discourage them from calling in sick. At Wal-Mart, when employees miss one or more days because of illness or other reasons, they generally get a demerit point. Once employees obtain four points over a six-month period, they begin receiving warnings that can lead to dismissal.

In addition, when Wal-Mart employees call in sick, their first day off is not a paid sick day (although workers can use a vacation day or personal day), but the second and third days are paid. The policy is meant to keep workers who are not actually sick from taking a day off to, say, go fishing.

Paul Hotchkiss, a support manager at a Wal-Mart store in Hastings, Minn., said the point system pressured him to report to work two weeks ago even though he had swine flu.

Forcing people to come to work sick only gets other workers sick. Offices are notorious germ factories, even outside of flu season.

A recent study found the average office desk contains 20,961 germs per square inch! The worst hot spots for germs? Phones, computer keyboards, and computer mice. If not cleaned regularly, they are a great breeding place for viruses that cause colds and flu.

Also, don’t forget about communal bathrooms, the office coffeepot, microwaves, and water coolers. Gossip isn’t the only thing being exchanged in these places. Germs are also traded on any commonly touched surfaces.

If you get sick leave, USE IT. If you don’t, lobby your bosses and companies for better sick policies. This flu season, we may need all the help we can get.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 3:06 pm and is filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.