Sick leave

Sick leave (or paid sick days or sick pay) is time off from work that workers can use to stay home to address their health and safety needs without losing pay. Paid sick leave is a statutory requirement in many nations. Most European, many Latin American, a few African and a few Asian countries have legal requirements for paid sick leave. Already in 1500 BCE, at least some of the workers who built the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs received paid sick leave as well as state-supported health care.

In nations without laws mandating paid sick leave, some employers choose to offer it. Those that do offer sick leave do so as a matter of workplace policy or because it is in some or all of the employees' employment contracts or required by a collective bargaining agreement. Currently, only three US states and four US cities have laws mandating paid sick leave. In most US state legislatures there are laws pending that would guarantee paid sick leave.

Paid sick days (also referred to as sick leave or paid sick leave) guarantee workers paid time off to stay home when they are sick. Some policies also allow paid sick time to be used to care for sick family members, to attend routine doctor or medical appointments, or to address health and safety needs related to domestic violence or sexual assault.

At least 145 countries ensure access to paid sick days for short- or long-term illnesses, with 127 providing a week or more annually.

An analysis from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) finds that around 39 percent of American workers in the private sector do not have paid sick leave. Around 79 percent of workers in low-wage industries do not have paid sick time. Most food service and hotel workers (78 percent) lack paid sick days.

One survey reports that 77 percent of Americans believe that having paid sick days is "very important" for workers. Some workers report that they or a family member have been fired or suspended for missing work due to illness.

There is also the controversial issue of some employees taking a paid day off as a Mental health day.

Paid sick leave advocates assert that providing paid sick time can reduce turnover, increase productivity, and reduce the spread of contamination in the workplace.

Some research has shown that parents who have access to paid sick leave are more likely to take time away from work to care for their sick kids, and other research finds that most children recover faster from illness when cared for by their parents. However, 53 percent of working mothers and 48 percent of working fathers don’t have paid sick days to care for children. Without paid time off, workers may be forced to send sick children to school where they spread illness and experience negative short- and long-term health outcomes. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) asks workers to stay at home if they are sick and to keep sick kids out of school. During the 2009 H1N1 crisis, the CDC recommended that anyone with flu-like symptoms remain at home. According to a report from the Institute for Women's Policy Research, more than 8 million workers went to their jobs while sick between September and November 2009 during the H1N1 pandemic.

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