An effort to guarantee Massachusetts workers the right to take time off when they’re ill took an important step forward recently, when a legislative committee gave its approval to the Earned Paid Sick Time bill.
The bill would allow eligible workers to earn up to a minimum of seven days off, with pay, to be used when they’re sick, to attend medical appointments, or to care for a sick child, spouse, or elderly parent or in-law. It would also allow people to take time off “to address the psychological, physical or legal effects of domestic violence.”
The bill received a favorable report from the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development on March 16; now backers will work to get the proposal before the full Legislature for a final vote.
According to the bill, almost half of all private-sector workers in the commonwealth don’t have paid sick days; for the lowest-paid workers, that figure climbs to 75 percent. Of the workers who do have paid sick days, only 20 percent can use them to care for a sick child or elderly relative.
The change, the bill’s authors wrote, would not only benefit individual workers: “Public health is jeopardized as many workers who do not have paid sick days have the most frequent contact with the public, such as workers in food services, nursing homes, child care centers, and retail clerks.”
And in an attempt to address resistance from the business lobby, which typically balks at state-imposed mandates, the bill’s authors contend companies, too, would benefit: “Employers who provide paid sick days see greater retention and avoid the problems of ‘presenteeism’ or employees coming to work sick. Studies have shown that employers that offer paid sick days have higher productivity and morale, reduced absenteeism, and decreased turnover and training costs. Sick workers are less productive and spread their germs to about 20 [percent] of their co-workers. Paid sick days will save Massachusetts businesses about $63.2 million annually in wages paid to workers who are too sick to be productive, and $627.2 million in turnover costs.”
In a press statement following the labor committee’s favorable report, Elizabeth Toulan, coordinator of the Massachusetts Paid Leave Coalition, said, “Paid sick days are urgently needed to help hardworking people hold onto their jobs, support their families and sustain local businesses. In these tough economic times, no mom or dad should have to choose between a sick child and a day’s pay—or worse, a job.”
The bill’s sponsors include, from the Valley, state senator Stan Rosenberg (D-Amherst) and state reps Cheryl Coakley-Rivera (D-Springfield), Denise Andrews (D-Orange), Sean Curran (D-Springfield), Peter Kocot (D-Northampton), Brian Ashe (D-Longmeadow) and Ellen Story (D-Amherst).
