Tell Congress to pass Paid Sick Days today!

Nearly half of all private sector workers don't have access to the paid sick days they need--that means they may have no choice but to go to work sick, or send sick kids to school, risking spreading germs to everyone. You can help millions of people by telling Congress to pass a Paid Sick Days Law now! It's good for economic security and public health!

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Last week, President Obama declared a state of emergency to help hospitals prepare for the H1N1 flu pandemic. This move will free up resources so that the H1N1 pandemic can be contained.  However, this national emergency doesn't offer any help for the individual "state of emergency"  that families experience when a family breadwinner gets sick.

Nearly half (48 percent) of private-sector workers lack paid sick days, including 79 percent of low-wage workers, 78 percent of food-service workers and 79 percent of child-care workers.  If these workers stay home from work when ill, they will lose pay and suffer serious financial consequences.  In today's economy, folks without paid sick days simply can't afford to miss work. If sick people can't afford to stay home, they're likely to unwittingly infect their coworkers and their community at large when they go to work.

There is also a strong economic case for paid sick days for companies as well as families.  It turns out that having paid sick days actually saves businesses money. Working people who are allowed to earn paid sick days are more productive and less likely to leave their job, which saves businesses money by reducing turnover. A recent study found that if workers were allowed to earn just seven paid sick days per year, our national economy would experience a net savings of $8.1 billion per year.

The Healthy Families Act (HR 2460/ S 1152) would let workers earn seven paid sick days a year to recover from illness or care for sick family members.  We urge Congress and the Administration to support this basic workplace standard.

Government officials are urging us to stay home from work if we have symptoms, and to keep sick children home from school.  But this isn’t an option for millions of workers.

Please move the Healthy Families Act quickly through Congress to help families deal with this pandemic, and with the regular flu season.  Paid sick days are essential for economic security and public health.

Sincerely,