Letter to the Editor: Paid sick days are good for workers, employers

As a small-business owner and the board chairman of Women's Way, one of the leading organizations pushing for earned sick days in Philadelphia, I am deeply disappointed at Mayor Nutter's decision to veto the earned-sick-days bill. Contrary to the mayor's assertion that the bill "would put thousands of jobs at risk," paid sick days would, in fact, benefit employers' bottom lines.

Research shows that employers who offer paid sick days have higher productivity, employee loyalty, and decreased turnover. Studies further show that presenteeism - when an employee comes to work sick - costs employers an average of $255 per employee each year in lost productivity. Moreover, almost 20 business-friendly amendments were added to this legislation as a result of conversations with the business community.

The mayor should have considered the 210,000 mainly low-income workers in Philadelphia who deserve the right to take care of themselves and their loved ones when faced with an unexpected illness without losing a day's pay or their jobs.

Elayne Howard

Board Chair, Women's Way

St. David's

You can also view the letter online by clicking here.

New Letter to the Editor in Today's Philadelphia Daily News

The editorial "Mandated Sick Pay: Job Killer" had only one thing right, that "It is completely unfair that some workers don't get sick days."

It is the responsibility of City Council to right this wrong and require all employers to provide paid sick days to keep Philadelphians healthy and employed. When you add in the benefits of low turnover and a healthy and productive workforce, this measure will benefit businesses in the long run.

Elly Porter-Webb, Philadelphia

You can also read the letter at http://articles.philly.com/2011-05-31/news/29603216_1_sick-days-small-businesses-public-sector.

"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.

Letter to the Editor: Sick Time for All

This letter was published in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: 

Thank you for the news story "Survey: Two-thirds of restaurant employees come to work sick" (Oct. 26 and TribLIVE.com).

In Pennsylvania, more than 45 percent of workers (including restaurant workers) do not have the opportunity to earn paid sick time.

The Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces is working to pass legislation to ensure all Pennsylvania workers have the opportunity to earn a minimum number of sick days to care for themselves or loved ones. Under this legislation, workers could earn up to six and a half such paid days per year.

When workers without sick time become ill, they have to choose between working sick or losing their pay (or their jobs). Not surprisingly, many choose their jobs over their health. Yet when they have access to sick time, their productivity increases and they are much less likely to spread illnesses to co-workers and the public.

Everyone gets sick, but not everyone has the time to get better. Please support earned sick days for all workers to improve public health, worker productivity and economic security for working families.

Carol Goertzel

The writer is president and CEO of nonprofit PathWaysPA (pathwayspa.org), a lead organizer of the Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces (earnedsicktime.blogspot.com).

Letter to the Editor: 'Sick and safe' legislation would benefit domestic abuse victims

Below is a letter from Carol Goertzel, President and CEO of PathWays PA, one of the lead members of the Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces. 

To the Times:

Thank you for your recent editorial pointing to the need to assist survivors of domestic violence. PathWays PA, a nonprofit organization which serves more than 6,000 women, children and families in the Greater Philadelphia region, is well aware of the need to work with these survivors.

One way to help would be to recognize that to leave an abuser requires more than physically removing oneself from a situation — it also requires the opportunity to find housing, obtain medical care and attend court hearings. Yet 2.2 million Pennsylvania workers must choose between working while sick or injured or losing their pay — or their jobs because they have no access to sick time.

To read the full letter from Carol Goertzel, visit the Delaware County Daily Times website!

Planning on Healthier Living in the New Year? Help Everyone be Healthy With Earned Sick Time!

cross-posted from the PathWays PA Policy Blog

(This letter to the editor was sent to the McKeesport Daily News earlier today by PathWays PA.)

New Year’s marks the time when we pledge ourselves to new diets and healthier living. This year, let’s add a pledge towards creating public health by ensuring that all workers have the opportunity to earn paid sick time. At PathWays PA, a nonprofit organization serving women and families, we have seen firsthand what happens when working families do not have earned sick days.

In Pennsylvania, 46 percent of all workers lack access to earned sick time. Nationally, 48 percent of private sector workers have no paid sick days, including 79 percent of childcare workers and 78 percent of food-service workers. Workers in this situation lose their pay or their jobs when they stay home sick. Not surprisingly, many choose to work sick, putting themselves, their coworkers, and the populations they serve at risk of contracting illness.

Unlike many countries, the United States has no federal laws establishing earned sick time. While there is no federal policy, some areas have either enacted or considered laws to create a minimum standard of earned leave. In Pennsylvania, Representative Marc Gergely has introduced the “Healthy Families, Healthy Workplaces Act.” This Act would give workers the ability to earn up to 7 days of paid sick time per year.

Working families should not risk their financial security to do what is right for their own health and for that of the public. As the New Year begins, please ask your legislators to ensure that all workers have access to a healthier future through earned sick time.

Letters to the Editor on Earned Sick Time Published

cross-posted at the PathWays PA Policy Blog

The Pocono Record and the Lancaster Sunday News have published PathWays PA's letters to the editor on earned sick time. Please take a moment to comment on their websites!

Also, if you are interested in learning more on earned sick time, please join us on Facebook or take our survey!