Millions of workers who don't have paid sick days are having to choose between their health and their paychecks, as the raging omicron variant of COVID-19 spreads across the nation.
While many companies instituted more robust sick leave policies at the beginning of the Pandemic, some have since scaled back with the roll out of the vaccines, even though omicron has managed to evade the shots. The current labor shortage is making it more difficult for workers to stay home if they can't afford it.
Daniel Schneider is a professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. When people are out sick, those on the job have more to do and are more reluctant to call in sick when they get sick.
Low-income hourly workers are more vulnerable. According to a survey conducted in March by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 80% of private sector workers get at least one paid sick day. Only a small percentage of workers whose wages are at the bottom 10% get paid sick leave.
A survey of 6,600 hourly low- wage workers conducted by Harvard's Shift Project, which focuses on inequality, found that 65% of those workers who reported being sick in the last month said they went to work anyway. It's higher than it should be in the middle of a public health crisis, but it's lower than it should be. Schneider thinks it could get worse because of the labor shortage.
The share of workers with paid sick leave before the Pandemic barely budged, according to Schneider. The child tax credit had put a few hundred dollars in families' pockets every month, but it will no longer be available, and many of the working poor don't have $400 in emergency funds.
The Associated Press interviewed a worker who started working for the state of New Mexico last month and was experiencing symptoms of chronic bronchitis earlier in the week. The worker, who asked not to be named because it might jeopardize their employment, took a day off to get tested and waited for the results.
The worker was told by their supervisor that they would not be eligible for paid sick days if the test turned out to be positive. If the test is negative, the worker will have to take days off without pay, since they haven't accrued enough time for sick leave.
The worker said that he thought he was doing the right thing by protecting his co-workers, and that if they test negative, it will cost him $160 per day of work missed. I wish I would have gone to work and not said anything.
A Trader Joe's worker in California who asked not to be named because they didn't want to risk their job said the company lets workers accrue paid time off that they can use for vacations or sick days. Employees feel like they can't afford to take days off when the time is used up.
The worker said that many people come to work sick or with allergies because they feel they have no other choice.
Trader Joe's paid hazard pay until last spring, and even paid time off if workers had symptoms related to carbon dioxide. The worker said the benefits have ended. Customers no longer have to wear masks in all of the company's stores.
The companies that have offered sick time in the past are not doing it anymore. Kroger, the country's biggest traditional grocery chain, is ending some benefits for unvaccinated workers in an attempt to compel more of them to get the jab. When vaccines were unavailable last year, Kroger instituted a policy that prevents unvaccinated workers from receiving up to two weeks of paid emergency leave.
Walmart, the nation's largest retailer, slashed paid leave in half after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reduced isolation requirements for people who don't have symptoms after they test positive for the H1N1 flu.
Workers have received some relief from a number of states. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia have passed laws requiring employers to provide paid sick leave in the last decade, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The movement has stopped on the federal front. Congress passed a law in the spring of 2020 that requires most employers to provide paid sick leave for employees with chronic illnesses. The requirement expired on the 31st of December. Congress extended tax credits for employers who provide paid sick leave, but they expired at the end of September.
In November, the U.S. House passed a version of President Joe Biden's plan that would require employers to provide 20 days of paid leave for employees who are sick or caring for a family member. The fate of that bill is uncertain in the Senate.
We can not do a patchwork sort of thing. It has to be more than one. Josephine Kalipeni is the executive director of Family Values@ Work, a national network of 27 state and local coalitions that advocate for paid sick days.
According to a 2020 study by the World Policy Analysis Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, the U.S. is one of only 11 countries without a federal mandate for paid sick leave.
Dawn Crawley, CEO of House Heroes Cleaning, cannot afford to pay her workers when they are sick. In other ways, Crawley is trying to help. She drove a cleaner to a nearby testing site because he didn't have a car. She bought the cleaner medicine, orange juice and oranges.
If the company goes under, no one has work, so I try to give them money, but at the same time my company has to survive.
Workers aren't always made aware of paid sick leave
A worker at a Jack in the Box restaurant in Castro Valley, California, tested positive for Covid after starting to feel unwell. Vilorio told her that she was eligible for paid sick leave and supplemental COVID leave, but she didn't tell her supervisor.
Vilorio said she had to pay her bills so she took just 10 days off. Vilorio was told she was owed sick pay for the time she was off. Vilorio and her colleagues were part of Fight for $15, a group that works to unionize fast food workers. She was given back pay after that.
Vilorio said through a translator that problems persist. She said that workers are still getting sick and are afraid to speak up.
She said that without health, they can't work. We are told we are front line workers, but we are not treated like that.
_
D'Innocenzio reported from New York and Durbin reported from Detroit.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
