필라델피아시에서 병가가 법적인 효력을 갖게되었습니다! (Philadelphia's Earned Sick Days law is now in effect - Korean)

http://bit.ly/2iW107h

http://bit.ly/2ibQWZj

필라델피아시에서 일년에 40시간 이상 일 할 경우 유급 또는 무급 병가를 자신이나 가족을 위해 받을 수 있습니다. 또한 법적으로 직장상사가 병가를 받을 권리를 거부할 수 없습니다.

자세한 내용은 엡사이트를 확인하시길 바랍니다.

병가에 대한 권리 보장은 대단한 발전이며 이를 통해 가족을 위해 직장을 보장받고 또 열심히 일함으로 경제발전에 기여하며 도시를 부흥시키는 계기가 될 것 입니다.

다른  도시에서도 이런 비슷한 법을 통과시켰을 때 많은 일자리가 생겨났습니다. 그래서 필라델피아의 경제 성장에도 기여 할거라 확신하며 우리의 사업에도 많은 유익을 줄 거라 믿습니다.

주변의 친구들에게 이 새로운 권리를 트위터나 페이스북을 통해 많이 알려주길 부탁드립니다.

www.phillyearnedsickdays.com
Facebook: PhillyPaidSickDays
Twitter: @EarnedSickTime

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B71cGLXVNdI9T2FQN3JHMEdpajQ

Press Release: Pressure Mounting on City Council to Side with Families, Override Mayoral Veto of Sick Days

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, April 9, 2013
CONTACT: Emma Stieglitz, emmaS@berlinrosen.com, (646) 200-5307
Jonathan Lipman, Lipman@berlinrosen.com, (773) 580-1603

NURSES RALLY FOR EARNED SICK DAYS AS NEW POLL SHOWS OVERWHELMING SUPPORT AMONG PHILLY VOTERS

Pressure Mounting on City Council to Side with Families, Override Mayoral Veto of Sick Days

PHILADELPHIA—As nurses and childcare professionals rallied at City Hall to urge City Council to side with Philadelphia families and override Mayor Nutter’s veto of the Earned Sick Days bill, a new poll was released today showing overwhelming support for the measure among Philadelphia voters.

The earned sick days bill would protect nearly 200,000 Philadelphians who are currently unable to earn paid sick days, preventing them from taking time off when they or their families are ill. The bill passed Philadelphia City Council 11-6, but was vetoed by Mayor Nutter. Supporters are pressing for Council to override that veto on Thursday.

The new survey of 590 Philadelphia voters from Public Policy Polling shows a strong 77 percent of Philadelphia voters supporting a law requiring businesses to allow earned sick time. In addition, 68 percent support an override of the mayor’s veto, and a plurality of voters say that a council member’s failure to override the veto would make them less likely to vote for that council member.

Support for sick days was particularly strong among growing parts of Philadelphia’s electorate:
• 84% of women strongly support a law guaranteeing earned sick days and a whopping 95% support it overall;
• 73% of independent voters support the law.
• 93% of Hispanic voters in Philadelphia strongly support the law, with only 1 percent voicing any opposition.

“This polling tells us what we already knew to be true, that Philadelphians support, want and need earned sick days,” said Marianne Bellesorte, senior director of policy at Pathways PA and a leader of The Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces, which supports the bill. “We urge the City Council to listen to their constituents, not to corporate lobbyists, and side with families by overriding the Mayor’s veto on earned sick days.”

Nurses and caregivers today told council how especially crucial earned sick days are for working parents, who without paid sick days can face the terrible dilemma of choosing between caring for a sick child or earning the money needed to pay for that child’s needs.

“Being able to earn paid sick days is a basic protection for working families,” said Patricia Eakin, PASNAP President and an Emergency Room Nurse at Temple University Hospital. “Parents should be able to take a few hours off work to take their kids to a doctor during the day; otherwise a child’s sickness could worsen and result in a trip to the ER. A job should be what enables you to care for and support your family, not what prevents you from caring for them.”

Research shows that families without access to sick days are also the ones least able to afford unpaid time off. The issue is compounded for working parents who are often forced to send sick children to school because they cannot afford to take care of sick children at home. Studies have shown that parents with earned sick days are 20 percent less likely to send a sick child to school and that when parents care for sick children at home, they get better sooner and reduce the risk spreading the illness to their classmates. A new study from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) shows that sick days would save Philadelphia an estimated $10.3 million a year in healthcare costs by reducing preventable emergency room visits.

Lawmakers and business leaders around the country are supporting earned sick time as a policy that strengthens the economy by keeping people in their jobs. This March, Portland, OR became the fourth city to adopt paid sick days, and New York City is poised to become the 5th US city, and the largest city yet, to pass a paid sick days law. Statewide bills are moving forward in Vermont and Massachusetts. Residents of Orange County, FL, should be able to vote for sick days in August 2014 thanks to 50,000 voters who petitioned for the ballot initiative.

These recent wins and active campaigns build on past victories in Connecticut, which passed the first statewide law in 2011, Seattle in 2011, Washington DC in 2008, San Francisco in 2006, and a November 2012 ballot initiative in Long Beach, California granting sick days to hotel workers. At the federal level, Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Sen. Tom Harkin introduced the Healthy Families Act this month, which would set a national sick days standard.

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University of Michigan Poll Shows Need for Paid Sick Days

Read the Full Report

The University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health recently asked parents who have children younger than six years old in child care about the impact of child care illness on their families.

In the poll, almost one-half of parents with young children in child care indicated that they've missed work in the last year to care for sick kids, and one-quarter missed work three or more times. 33 percent of parents were concerned about losing pay or jobs because of missing work for sick kids, 31 percent said they don't have enough paid leave to cover the days they need for sick children.

Tell Philadelphia City Council support Paid Sick Days!

Why Are Earned Sick Days Important? Ask Betty Carr.

From the Reading Eagle:

Betty Carr had to move herself and her children out of their home after suffering physical abuse from her boyfriend.

Then her 8-month-old son got sick, and Carr had to stay home with him.

So Carr lost her job in food service because her employer believed she took too much time off to care for her son.

That put the 28-year-old and her two children in a Berks Women in Crisis shelter temporarily.

To read more about Betty's story and the issues that many single mothers face, please visit http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=375295.

Paid Sick Days Lower Healthcare Costs

From our friends at IWPR

Paid Sick Days and Health: Cost Savings from Reduced Emergency Department Visits finds that universal access to paid sick days would save $1 billion annually. Currently, the United States spends approximately $47 billion annually on emergency department services and 44 million Americans lack access to paid sick days.

Cost savings would be realized by shifting the treatment of some preventable illnesses from emergency departments to less expensive doctor's offices, clinics, and hospital outpatient settings. Currently, approximately $500 million of these preventable costs are covered by taxpayer-funded public health care for children, elders, veterans and low-income families, including Medicare, Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and Veterans Affairs services. The remainder of preventable emergency department costs are accrued to individuals who pay out of pocket for health care and to insurance companies and their customers.

After controlling for various characteristics, including health insurance status, IWPR's analyses reveal that paid sick days are associated with better self-reported health, fewer delays in medical care, and fewer emergency department visits for adults and their children.

Young Adults Struggle with Lack of Paid Sick Days

During the health reform debate there was a lot of talk about the need for young adults to have access to their parent’s insurance because many found insurance too expensive and went without. Because illness can strike anyone, even the young, Congress extended the age that a child can be on their parent’s insurance until 26.

While this is a great accomplishment, if young adults cannot use their insurance because they cannot take off of work to see a doctor or get the care they need, then they will still find themselves facing chronic issues that could have been easily treated or resorting to the emergency room for non-emergencies.

A new report, The State of Young America, shows that young adults have little access to paid time away from work to use to recover from illness and care for a sick family member. A survey of young adults, ages 18 to 34, shows that fewer than 3 in 10 reported having paid sick days they can use for themselves, a child, and an immediate family member. Fewer than 1 in 4 women and fewer than 1 in 6 Latinos said they have this basic right.

Young Americans face very tough times ahead. Unemployment and underemployment are rising, the cost of living and student debt are increasing, and wages are declining. Missing even just one day of work can mean the difference between paying bills and putting food on the table.

Worker and family friendly policies like paid sick days are necessary for the economic security of all Americans because no matter someone’s age, everyone can get sick and everyone deserves the time to get better.

Denver Paid Sick Days Would Promote Children’s School Success

From our friends at IWPR:

Paid sick days for working parents can enhance children’s school success. Parents face a difficult choice if their children get sick when they lack paid sick days: staying home with the child and missing pay (and possibly facing discipline at work); sending the child to school sick, which compromises their school performance and spreads illness to others; leaving the child at home alone, putting the child at risk; leaving the child with an older sibling who in turn must stay home from school; or trusting the child to a temporary caregiver. Each of these scenarios has potential costs for schools or for child well-being. The negative effects of inadequate sick days coverage disproportionately affect people of color and low-income adults in Denver, because they are less likely than other Denver residents to be able to earn paid sick days. This paper by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) addresses how children's school success can be improved when working parents have access to paid sick days by reviewing published research, Denver Public Schools data, and information provided in interviews and surveys of Denver Public Schools personnel.

"‘Contagion: Not Just a Movie’ Begins New Front in Earned Sick Days Fight"

Please check out this article on Philadelphia Weekly's website about the "Contagion" webshort featuring a worker from Philadelphia. Then call City Council at 800-584-6813 and tell them about your support for paid sick days or email the video to Council.

Economic Security and Paid Sick Days

From EPI's "The Need for Paid Sick Days"

If you read this blog often, you know the basics on the need for paid sick days:

• 40 million private sector workers nationally have no access to paid sick days (and over 200,000 here in Philadelphia are in the same boat)
• Employees without paid sick days are more likely to work sick, reducing their productivity at a cost to their employers and themselves
• Parents without paid sick days are more likely to send children to school while ill, which not only hurts the child in the short-term but also poses risks to long-term health and development

However, a new report from the Economic Policy Institute points out some additional items about economic security and paid sick days that you might not have known.  This report uses a common approach to determining what a family needs to make ends meet: 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, or almost $45,000 for a family of four (although research shows families may need even more).

A two-parent, two child household, with both parents working and earning $10/hour, already earns below 200% of the FPL.  This household needs to earn $3,639 to make ends meet, but only earns $3,470, even without taking an unpaid sick day. One parent using 3.5 days of unpaid sick time in a month (which could happen easily if just one child got sick) would lose the income equivalent to the family's grocery budget for the entire month.

Single parent households earning $10/hour and caring for two children also earn well below what they need to be economically secure: just $1,735 per month, compared to the $2,891 per month economic security threshold.  Missing more than three days of work in a month for this family would put it below the Federal Poverty Level.

As cities, states, and the Federal Government continue to look at the issue of paid sick days, these numbers should be taken into account.  Until we have developed a foolproof way to avoid getting sick, we need to make sure that all families can afford getting sick.

Statements in Support of Paid Sick Days in Philadelphia

Below are a few of the statements we've seen in support of paid sick days in Philadelphia:

• AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurers Liz Shuler: It’s a shame the mayor ignored what the majority of Philadelphians say is the right thing to do for working families. When workers in the city get sick, they are still faced with the awful choice of their health of their paycheck. The mayor could have changed that.
• Ellen Bravo, Executive Director of Family Values @ Work: Mayor Nutter’s decision to stand with corporate lobbyists and veto the new paid sick days ordinance is short-sighted — and most likely will be short-lived. More than one hundred organizations that make up the Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces are determined to continue the fight for this modest reform until it becomes a law.
• Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO President Patrick J. Eiding: The ability to take a day off when you or your family member is sick is a public health issue as well as a worker rights issue. We’re disappointed in the mayor’s veto and will continue to fight for paid sick days and all legislation that helps workers.
• Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director of MomsRising: Today, Mayor Michael Nutter put the misplaced concerns of a handful of businesses above the public health needs of his city and the interests of Philadelphia workers and their families.  By vetoing the Promoting Health Families and Workplaces Act, he is putting family economic security and Philadelphia families’ health at risk.
• Labor Project for Working Families: Across the country, momentum continues to build for paid sick days because it is a proven step to improve the health of the workforce and the strength of the economy. The measure is supported by a majority of the Philadelphia City Council and by a majority of Philadelphia voters of both political parties. We will do whatever we can to support the coalition to continue their fight until paid sick days is implemented.
• Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women and Families: It is deeply disappointing that Mayor Nutter chose to thwart the will of Philadelphians and the City Council by siding with the business lobby instead of hard-working families. His veto of the paid sick days bill passed by the City Council earlier this month will effectively deny more than 200,000 Philadelphia workers the right to earn the paid sick days they need to meet their health needs without risking their financial security. This veto is short-sighted and destructive. It will harm workers, families, the public health and the city itself. This is a sad day for Philadelphia.
  

Liberty City Calls on Council to Pass Earned Sick Days Bill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Contact: Micah Mahjoubian
Phone: (215) 432-1068


Liberty City Calls on Council to Pass Earned Sick Days Bill

Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club today officially joined the Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces and called on Philadelphia City Council to pass earned sick days legislation Thursday, June 16th.

“Liberty City has worked tirelessly to promote policies that support LGBT residents and families and we have worked just as tirelessly to elect councilmembers who support those LGBT-friendly policies,” said Lee Carson, Co-Chair of Liberty City. “The earned sick days bill is critical in supporting and protecting LGBT families and Liberty City expects LGBT-supportive councilmembers to vote for it.”

"Passing the earned sick days bill is an important step forward for LGBT civil rights in Philadelphia." added Liberty City Co-Chair Adah Bush.


Liberty City joins the following LGBT Community and HIV/AIDS leadership organizations in supporting earned sick days legislation: Mazzoni Center, William Way, Action AIDS, Philadelphia AIDS Fund, Philadelphia Family Pride, AIDS Law Project, GALAEI, and Philadelphia Fight.

Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (Bill 080474) would allow Philadelphia workers the opportunity to earn up to 7 days of sick time per year for a large business and up to 4 days per year for a small businesses. It was voted out of the Public Health and Human Services Committee earlier this year. The bill could affect up to 200,000 workers in Philadelphia who do not have access to paid sick days.

The earned sick day bill is LGBT-inclusive. The bill explicitly allows workers to use earned sick time to care for spouses, domestic partners or life partners, parents, grandparents, siblings, biological children, grandchildren, foster children, adopted children, stepchildren, legal wards, and children of workers who stand “in loco parentis” (this phrase covers LGBT parents who do not have a legal or biological relationship to their children).

With over 40 percent of Philadelphians lacking earned sick days, a large portion of the population cannot take the time off work to go see a doctor or obtain medical treatment - regardless of the medical coverage they have.

Employees with earned sick days are more likely to stay home when they are sick, limiting the spread of the illness and protecting co-workers, customers, or anyone else they meet during the work day. During the height of the H1N1 pandemic, people were urged to stay home if they had any signs of the flu, however, those without earned sick days were less likely to stay home because they could not afford to. As a result, nearly 8 million H1N1 cases were traced back to employees going to work while sick.

City Council is expected to vote on the bill on Thursday, June 16, 2011.

Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club works to register, educate, and mobilize lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) voters, elect openly LGBT candidates for public and party office, support LGBT-friendly candidates and promote legislative issues of importance to the LGBT community.

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MomsRising Paid Sick Days Blog Carnival

Thank you to MomsRising who put together a Blog Carnival focusing on the need for paid sick days in Philadelphia. Some of the authors include Coalition partners, national experts, and moms. See a list of the blog posts below.

An Apple A Day Isn’t Enough: Blog-A-Thon For Philadelphia’s Earned Sick Days Law, by Ruth Martin, MomsRising. “Planning, preparation, prevention – it all comes with the territory of being a mom. We try to head off as many accidents and illnesses as we can; we child-proof, we carry hand sanitizer, and we teach our kids to wash their hands. But there is a big hole in our safety net: Two out of five – that’s 41% – of Philadelphia employees are not allowed by their employers to earn even a single paid sick day to care for their own health and thousands more are unable to take a paid day to care for a sick child or parent.”

In the City of Brotherly and Sisterly Love, A Chance to Stand Up For Working Families, by Vicki Shabo, National Partnership for Women and Families. “With more than 210,000 working people in Philadelphia lacking access to paid sick days, approving a law to establish a standard should be common sense for the City Council.”

Bad Economics Meet Paid Sick Days in Philadelphia, by Robert Drago, Institute for Women’s Policy Research. “A new study for the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) estimates that Philadelphia’s proposed paid sick days legislation would cost employers between $350 million and $752 million annually. Both the factual basis and the assumptions underlying this study are seriously flawed.”

Support Paid Sick Days In Philadelphia! by Angie Norris, Studio 34 Yoga. A Philadelphia nurse who’s also a small business owner shares her perspective on providing paid sick days. Thank you to Angie for providing earned sick time!

In Philadelphia, A Healthy Workforce and a Healthy Business Environment Go Together, by Amy Traub, Demos. “In an era of high unemployment, good policymaking also requires that we answer another question: how would guaranteeing all working people in Philadelphia the right to earn paid sick leave impact the city’s economy?”

Philadelphians deserve right to time off when sick, by Kathy Black, president of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, Philadelphia chapter. “Paid sick days is a policy that’s good for workers, good for families and good for our community. And businesses in other cities that have a paid sick day law say the law has no negative impact on profitability – by a measure of 6 to 1!”

Apocalypse Never: Earned Sick Days Provide Benefit, Not Doom, by Jake Blumgart. “Rather than just making fretful predictions, we should look at empirical evidence gathered from successfully implemented paid sick leave bills.”

This boss doesn’t mind paid sick days, by Dewetta Logan. The owner of a small childcare center in West Philly shares her experience in providing earned sick time. And– BIG thank you to Dewetta for protecting your employees and the kids you all care for by providing earned sick time!

Economists say paid sick days will help Philadelphia make progress toward economic recovery, by Marianne Bellesorte

Letter to the Editor: Workers Need the Opportunity to Earn Sick Days, by Diane Mohney. Certified school nurse offers her 29 years of wisdom and experience in explaining the need for sick days. Scroll all the way to the end to check it out.

Faith leaders sign letter in support of earned sick days in Philadelphia, by Kate Scully. Faith leaders sign a letter to Mayor Nutter in support of providing all workers in Philadelphia with the opportunity to earn paid sick days.

Philadelphia Business Journal: Sick Days for Healthy Recovery, by Eileen Appelbaum and Lonnie Golden. “Mandating paid sick days is one policy that will help employers keep workers in jobs.” Subscribers can read the entire article.

Every Parent wants to protect their children, by Barbara Lovelace of north Philadelphia. Barbara shares the agonizing decision her daughter had to make: Stay by Barbara’s side as she lay in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, or return to her job as a cashier worrying about whether her mother would pass away while she was on the job.

Status Update: I support paid sick days!, by Marianne Bellesorte. If you can’t make it to City Hall, join our virtual Facebook rally to support earned sick time in Philly!

Support Paid Sick Days For Philadelphia Families, by Jennifer at PhillyFun4Kids.We take a moment out of bringing you Philly’s best family friendly free or mostly free fun to think about this…In Philadelphia over 40% of workers do not have the ability to earn any paid sick days.

Mothers Gather at Childspace to Support Earned Sick Days, by Zach Subar. Power of one(sies) decorated with messages like “Moms rock!” also tell the story of why paid sick days are a family friendly policy.

Using NFIB Economist’s Estimates on Paid Sick Days: It’s Not Cricket, by Steve Herzenberg.  Herzenberg shows that even if readers oppose paid sick days, they shouldn’t use the Dunkelberg estimates because, well, “It’s not cricket.” The estimates are so transparently inflated that folks who live in a fact-based world shouldn’t use them.

Philadelphia Paid Sick Days Law Would Allow Workers to Take Care of Their Chronic Conditions, by Andrea Lindemann.  In Philadelphia, there’s a disconnect between public health initiatives and access to care. The reason? Lack of paid time off to get to the doctor to care for chronic conditions. 

It’s time now for workers to be able to earn paid sick days in Philly and across the country, by Linda Meric.   Millions of Americans working without paid sick days face the impossible choice between caring for their health and that of their family, and keeping their paycheck or job. At a time when many families are worried about their financial security, the threat of losing a job or needed wages forces many workers to go to work even though they are ill.

Rooting for Passage of Paid Sick Days in Philadelphia, by Ellen Bravo.  Every night a second grade teacher washes the top cover of her reading couch because some child has had to come to class with the flu rather than staying home alone.

Come Help Us Wrap City Hall in Postcards and Pack the Session Room!

The Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces is holding two events a week from today and we need your help to make them a success. We are working to have the Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces Act pulled off the suspension list on Thursday, May 26th. In order to do so we need a lot of people at City Hall. Can you join us? Below is information about the two events. Feel free to come to both or just come and stay for as long as you are able to.


Ever seen City Hall wrapped in thousands of postcards? Neither have we. That's why you should join us.

WHEN: May 26th at 8:00 AM

WHERE: Philadelphia City Hall

Meet us outside the visitor’s entrance at the north-east corner of the building.

Come out and show your support as we wrap City Hall with the thousands of postcards of people like you who support passing this bill. Not to mention have fun doing something that's never been done before!

To register please visit: http://earnedsickdayspostcards.eventbrite.com/

For more information about this event contact Jasmine Rivera of ACTION United at jmrivera@gm.slc.edu.

Come be part of this historic event!

Help Us Pack Council Session to Show the Full Support for Earned Sick Days 

Help us greet City Council members as they enter Session and then help us pack the Hearing Room to show the importance of this bill. You can enter City Hall at the north-east corner and remember to bring a picture ID.

WHEN: May 26, 2011* 9:00 AM
WHERE: 4th Floor, Philadelphia City Hall

*Please note, if you cannot come on May 26th or if you would like to come out to support this important bill more than once we will also be at Council Session at City Hall on June 2nd and June 9th.

Even if you have paid sick days remember a majority of restaurant, child care, and health care workers do not—the lack of paid sick days in Philadelphia impacts us all!

To register for this event visit: http://earnedsickdayscouncilsession.eventbrite.com/

To learn more about the need for earned sick time visit http://earnedsickdaysphilly.com or contact
Kate Scully at kscully@pathwayspa.org or 610-543-5022 x255.

"Workers Need Opportunity to Earn Sick Days" - Letter to the Editor

To the editor:

As any parent, teacher, school nurse or daycare provider knows, children frequently get sick. And when they do, sitting in school doesn’t help them get better, they need to be home with a parent.

Also, when children with communicable diseases stay home, it can break the chain of contagion. No parent wants their child to be in a classroom where there is a child with pink eye, a fever, or nausea and vomiting.

Having been a school nurse for 29 years in the Philadelphia Public School System, I witnessed time and time again children who came to school sick because their parents had to work and couldn’t afford to take the day off to spend time helping their children get better. Asthmatic children who came to school wheezing sometimes had to be sent to the emergency room by ambulance. Children with red, watery eyes frequently turned out to have pink eye. A student who just “looked tired” at home turned out to have a high fever with a strep throat. And a child who had a stomachache and vomited the night before turned out to have pneumonia. All of these children should have been taken to the doctor but their working parents would have lost a day’s pay.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children have 17 well-child visits between ages 2 and 21. However, fewer than half of U.S. children are receiving adequate care.

Preventive care visits are tough enough to make happen. The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy’s Amy Traub estimates that more than two in five Philadelphia workers are not able to earn paid sick time to care for their own illness – and many more can’t take sick time to care for a child.

Furthermore, children with chronic conditions such as asthma, or diabetes need follow-up appointments to adjust medications and evaluate treatments, especially when first diagnosed. Once the adjustments to their medications, blood tests, etc. are made, their care can become routine, they miss less time from school, and their parents miss less time from work. Children whose parents don’t have paid time often have to obtain care for their children on a catch-as-catch-can basis. This can result in frequent exacerbations of a chronic condition, that include prescriptions that aren’t refilled, and risks to life and health.

Making the decision to stay home with a sick child when it means losing a day’s pay or possibly losing one’s job is an impossible choice.

This can change in Philadelphia. Philadelphia City Council can pass Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces (Bill No 080474) before they leave for the summer. Introduced by Councilman William Greenlee and Councilman Darrell Clarke, this bill guarantees workers the ability to earn paid sick days.

Depending on the size of the business, workers will be allowed to earn 4-9 sick days one-hour-at-a-time for every 30 hours worked.

An hour of earned sick time for every thirty hours worked will help keep our children healthy, and keep our workers focused on work when they are working, and caring for their children when they need to be with their children.

Earned sick days for Philadelphia workers is common sense.

Diane Mohney

Editor’s note: Germantown resident Diane Mohney is a Certified School Nurse.

This letter was published in the Germantown Chronicle/ Mt. Airy Independent.

"Mothers Gather at Childspace to Support Earned Sick Days"

The Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces is trying to get legislation passed that would allow Philadelphia workers to accrue earned time off for being sick or taking care of sick children.
By Zach Subar

One by one, mothers, daughters and pregnant women came forward with similar messages at a rally at Childspace Day Care Center on Monday.

They communicated those messages through stories they shared at the gathering. Tioga resident Rebecca Lovelace, whose mother has been in and out of the hospital for the past two years, said she doesn't get time off from one of her jobs—at Dollar General—and fears losing her job if she needs to take time off to care for her condition. Katja Pigur, who is originally from Germany and is the mother of a six-year old, said she is thankful that she has sick days at her job, but said that the number of sick days Americans get pales in comparison to what people in her home country receive. And Aislyn Washington talked about how she hasn't been able to hold a steady job for the past three years because her kids—she has five children under the age of 18, and three more who are older—keep getting sick and she keeps needing to take care of them.

To read the full story, visit the Mt. Airy Patch.

For Mother's Day, Moms want Philadelphia City Council to give them Earned Sick Days

For Immediate Release:
May 9, 2011

Contact:
Lauren Townsend 215-939-7621
Earned Sick Time Campaign
Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces

For Mother's Day, Moms want Philadelphia City Council to give them Earned Sick Days

Mothers to Speak TODAY, May 9th at 3 pm about Importance of Sick Days

to Take Care of Children and Elderly Parents

“My husband’s family lives in Puerto Rico while mine lives in Germany, leaving us without the kinship-care support we would need in emergency situations. The school’s policy requires a sick child be picked up within an hour of calling the parents. Since we both have paid sick days, my husband and I are able to leave work and pick him up. We can be responsible and caring parents without having the fear that we could lose our jobs or critical pay just because our child needs us.“ - Philadelphia mother, Katja Pigur (son is 6 years old)

WHAT:
Today at 3 pm, Philadelphia mothers will talk about good parenting and why earned sick days are critical in the lives of working parents who sometimes need to be home with sick children to help them get well. The participating moms support the Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (Bill 080474), a bill that would allow Philadelphia workers the opportunity to earn up to seven days of sick time per year.

WHO:
Philadelphia Mothers scheduled to speak on Monday include:

• Aislyn Washington, mother of 5 from Germantown who recently lost her job because she didn't have paid sick days
• Sarah Friedman, expectant mother from Mt Airy
• Kenyette Barnes-Higgs, mother of a 5 year-old and a 2 ½ year old
• Katja Pigur, mother of a 6 year old boy who is thankful for her paid sick days
• Rebecca Lovelace, resident of Tioga who does not have sick days and has a mother who needs care

WHEN:
TODAY, Monday, May 9, 2011 at 3:00 PM

WHERE:
Childspace Day Care Center - 13 E. Mount Pleasant Ave. Philadelphia 19119 (corner of Germantown Ave. and Mt. Pleasant Ave)

Background:
Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (Bill 080474) is a bill that would allow Philadelphia workers the opportunity to earn up to seven days of sick time per year. It was voted out of the Public Health and Human Services Committee on March 1, 2011. The bill could affect up to 200,000 workers in Philadelphia who do not have access to paid sick days.

With over 40 percent of Philadelphians lacking earned sick days, a large portion of the population cannot take the time off work to go see a doctor or obtain medical treatment - regardless of the medical coverage they have.

Employees with earned sick days are more likely to stay home when they are sick, limiting the spread of the illness and protecting co-workers, customers, or anyone else they meet during the work day. During the height of the H1N1 pandemic, people were urged to stay home if they had any signs of the flu, however, those without earned sick days were less likely to stay home because they could not afford to. As a result, nearly 8 million H1N1 cases were traced back to employees going to work while sick.

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Join Us at a Mother's Speakout on May 9!

Advisory: A Conversation with Philadelphia Public School Nurses TODAY 4/28

Contact: Lauren Townsend 215-939-7621
Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces

A Conversation with Philadelphia Public School Nurses
TODAY 4/28

Nurses will share their experiences and talk about sick children coming to school when they should really be home getting well.

"Having been a school nurse for 29 years in the Philadelphia Public School System, I witnessed time and time again children who came to school sick because their parents had to work and couldn’t afford to take the day off to spend time helping their kids get better. Asthmatic children who came to school wheezing sometimes had to be sent to the emergency room by ambulance. Children with red, watery eyes frequently turned out to have pink eye. A student who just “looked tired” at home turned out to have a high fever with a strep throat. And a child who had a stomachache and vomited the night before turned out to have pneumonia. All of these children should have been taken to the doctor, but their working parents would have lost a day’s pay." Diane Mohney, RN.

WHAT:
Philadelphia Public School nurses (RNs) will talk about their experiences and talk about sick children coming to school when they should really be home getting well. The nurses support the Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (Bill 080474) is a bill that would allow Philadelphia workers the opportunity to earn up to seven days of sick time per year.

WHO:
Registered Nurses (RNs) working in the Public Schools will include: Diane Mohney, Francesca Hoeffel, Gwen Robbins and Lynette Lazarus.

WHEN:
4:30 PM - Thursday, April 28, 2011

WHERE:
Melrose Diner 1501 Snyder Ave, Philadelphia, 19145
* (we will be sitting at a table and will be on the look-out for members of the press)

RSVP:
Because we are meeting at the Melrose Diner, we would like RSVPs from the press. Please email/call Lauren Townsend at ltownsend4@gmail.com or 215-939-7621 and let Lauren know that you would like to join this important conversation with school nurses. Put "School Nurses" in the subject line.

Background:
Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (Bill 080474) is a bill that would allow Philadelphia workers the opportunity to earn up to nine days of sick time per year. It was voted out of the Public Health and Human Services Committee on March 1, 2011. The bill could affect up to 200,000 workers in Philadelphia who do not have access to paid sick days.

With over 40 percent of Philadelphians lacking earned sick days, a large portion of the population cannot take the time off work to go see a doctor or obtain medical treatment - regardless of the medical coverage they have.

Employees with earned sick days are more likely to stay home when they are sick, limiting the spread of the illness and protecting co-workers, customers, or anyone else they meet during the work day. During the height of the H1N1 pandemic, people were urged to stay home if they had any signs of the flu, however, those without earned sick days were less likely to stay home because they could not afford to. As a result, nearly 8 million H1N1 cases were traced back to employees going to work while sick.

Listen to Today's Earned Sick Days/ Equal Pay Press Conference Online!

This Equal Pay Day, please take the time to hear how the need for earned sick days impacts pay inequity in the workplace.  Please share with your friends, and call your City Council members to let them know how important earned sick days are to all families!

Letters: A shameful position on sick leave in the city

Please read the whole letter on The Philadelphia Inquirer's website!

The Chamber of Commerce is trying to stop tens of thousands of working Philadelphians - nearly half of the city's workforce - from getting paid sick days ("Business opposes sick-leave proposal," Friday). It is a shameful position that cannot be justified on moral, public health, or business grounds.

All too often, Philadelphia workers must go to work ill because they can't afford to lose a day's pay when they are barely able to make ends meet and support their family. Responsible businesses understand that no worker should have to choose between losing a day's pay and coming to work sick or not caring for a sick child, and that paid sick days don't harm the economy. When workers come to work sick, they're not at their best and they risk spreading their illness to coworkers and others....