When you look at the facts, you can see it makes good sense to allow more Ohio workers to earn paid sick days for their families.
Today's Key Facts:
FACT: 2.2 million Ohio workers are not able to take a paid sick day when they are ill. (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
FACT: Over 670,000 Ohioans with significant interaction with the public do not have paid sick days.
(Source: Policy Matters Ohio)
FACT: Over 330,000 Ohioans who work in Accommodation and Food Service do not have paid sick days.
(Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research)
FACT: Nationally, 78 percent of all workers dealing with accommodation and food service do not have access to paid sick days.
(Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research)
FACT: A survey of New York City restaurant workers found that 52 percent went to work when sick.
(Source: Center for Law and Social Policy)
FACT: 389,000 manufacturing employees in Ohio do not have the ability to take care of themselves when they are sick.
(Source: Policy Matters Ohio)
FACT: 337,000 Ohioans working in Retail Trade cannot take a paid sick day to get better.
(Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research)
FACT: Every Federal and State employee has paid sick days in the state of Ohio. 42 percent of workers in Ohio do not.
(Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research)
FACT: 79 percent of all Ohio employees earning less than $9.23 an hour do not have the ability to take care of their ill family members.
(Source: Policy Matters Ohio)
FACT: 53.7 percent of all workers with paid sick days do not miss a single day of work.
(Source: IWPR’s analysis of the 2004 National Health Interview Survey)
FACT: Over 3.5 million Ohioans do not have the ability to stay home and take care of their ailing child.
(Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research)
FACT: Ohio employers save $1.25 per employee every week when offering paid sick days.
(Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research)
FACT: Pediatricians recommend that babies and children see the pediatrician 6-8 times in the first year, twice in the second year, and once a year thereafter.
(Source: Massachusetts Academy of Pediatric Dentistry)
FACT: Adults need semi-annual dental appointments and annual or biannual physicals for cancer and diabetes screening, cardiovascular fitness assessment, flu shots, and to receive information about nutrition, exercise, alcohol and tobacco use, and other aspects of healthy living.
(Source: Unity Health Care)
FACT: Only 33 percent of workers nationally have a sick days policy that officially covers doctors visits.
(Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research)
FACT: The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that patients do not return to work until they are completely recovered from the flu.
(Source: CDC)
FACT: The flu accounts for 10 to 12 percent of illness-related work absences.
(Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research)
FACT: Paid Sick Days legislation has been introduced in ten states plus the District of Columbia.
(Source: Policy Maters Ohio)
FACT: The countries of Ethiopia, Zambia, and Mexico are three of the 145 nations that require paid sick days.
(Source: International Labor Organization)
FACT: 94 million working Americans do not have paid sick days to use to care for a sick child. (Source: Institute for Women's Policy Research, 2004)
FACT: Nearly half of all private sector U.S. Workers (47 percent) are not provided any paid sick time. (Sources: Institute for Women's Policy Research & U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
FACT: 24% of all parents with children younger than one year old do not earn any paid leave. (Source: The Urban Institute, April 2004)
FACT: Workers who come in sick cost our national economy $180 billion annually in lost productivity. For employers, this costs an average of $255 per employee per year— exceeding the cost of absenteeism and medical disability benefits. (Source: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, April 2004)
Posted by SickDaysOhio.org on February 11, 2008
Take care of your sick child... or get paid?
Help your ailing mother... or keep your job?
Stay home because you have the flu... or go to work sick?
These are the kinds of tough choices almost half of hard-working Ohioans are faced with because their employers don't allow them to earn paid sick days.
The Ohio Healthy Families Act is a proposed new state law that would make our state one of the most family-friendly in the nation. The Act would require businesses with 25 or more workers to allow full-time employees to earn 7 paid sick days per year. Part-time workers could earn a smaller, pro-rated number of paid sick days depending on the number of hours they work.
The Healthy Families Act would ensure middle-class workers—the backbone of Ohio's economy—have the opportunity to earn paid sick days. Full-time workers would earn 7 days a year and part-time workers would earn a pro-rated amount, based on the number of hours worked.
Although we have been diligent in pressuring the Ohio General Assembly to pass the Ohio Healthy Famlies Act, it increasingly seems clear that we will need to gather signatures to take the bill before the voters in this November's General Election.
Can you gather 100 signatures to help make a difference for Ohio?
We will continue to pressure the Legislature through May 7th. After that, we have just 90 days to gather over 120,000 valid signatures - so we'll need the help of everyone who supports paid Sick Days!
Click here to pledge to be a "super volunteer" and collect 100 signatures!
Ready to help spread the word about paid sick days for Ohio families?
If you've got a website or a blog, just copy and paste one line of HTML, and you'll have all the latest headlines from SickDaysOhio.org at your fingertips. Here is what it looks like:
Columbus, Ohio OCT 2---- Policy Matters Ohio released the results of a study detailing the range of opportunities afforded working Ohioans to earn paid sick days.
"A Healthy Standard: Paid Sick Days in Ohio," describes the current state of paid sick days in Ohio in which nearly half of all workers have no opportunity to earn paid sick days. Among the findings were that a significant number of jobs involving personal contact, such as the food services and retail sectors, lack paid sick days. Also, a significant number of labor intensive jobs in manufacturing and construction lack paid sick days.
The report noted that, rather than a burden, earned paid sick days as provided for by the Ohio Healthy Families Act would have an economic benefit to employers of approximately $1.25 per employee per week. In light of the 2.2 million Ohio workers who can not earn paid sick days, Ohio's economy would stand to gain a substantial competitive advantage each work week under the Healthy Families Act.
Sat., Jun. 7, 2008
AV Coordinated Day of Action
Come walk to organize signatures for the OHFA with other volunteers.
Comments
Posted by Robert Halley at October 28, 2007 5:11 PM
Will this new health act have any bearing on the FMLA that is already in place, i know you don;t get paid for FMLA, but sick days sure would be nice to earn
thanks
Posted by Sarena Reese at November 11, 2007 7:56 AM
I am an Ohio resident and I work remotely. My employer is in Minnesota. Would my employer be required to let me earn sick days?
Posted by John Doe at November 19, 2007 4:31 PM
What happens to companies that don't have specific paid sick time, but offer a paid time off bank for vacation and sick days?
Also, if you read the text of the proposed bill, it suggests that employers give at least seven days notice of their intent to use the paid sick time. How many people know seven days in advance that they're going to be sick? This is just a disguised way to get more vacation time.
Posted by mike at January 15, 2008 1:44 AM
I think this is a great idea,where I work if you have more than 2 occurrences for sick ,late,etc. your job could be threatened . I've heard that there may be loopholes that if it is a foreign owned company they would not have to abide by this,could this be true if you are an ohio employee. Also would a company be able to design the attendance system so that if you did miss 7 days then you would be fired at the 7th or 8th day. Another words it needs to be designed so that no warnings write-ups etc. could occur until after the 7th day,as you know some may try to make there system dsigned to progress to the seventh day and then terminate at the 7th day.
Posted by mike at January 15, 2008 3:55 AM
I am worried because like everything we get that is good for us ,they take something else away. Example Fmla we used to be able to take it without having to have it count if we were off for short term disability or ltd, but now they made so it runs automatically concurrent when you are on std the Fmla is started which means if you are off longer than the fmla your job could be in jeopardy. Be careful to cover the employees on this because you know the companies are looking for every loophole they can to have that power over the employees lives.
Posted by Roger at February 17, 2008 1:09 AM
Where I work in Licking County, We work a 12 hour shift. Our company has already screwed us on holiday pay by only giving us 8 hour holiday pay even though we work a 12 hour shift. If we were to get 7 sick days, would they be able to make them 7-8 hour days ( 56 hours), or would the company be forced to give us 7- 12 hour days, since we work a 12 hour shift?
Posted by Roger at February 17, 2008 1:19 AM
Where I work, I had to use up my vacation to be with my father who was dying of Cancer, and was given 10 days to live. If I would have had sick days to use, it sure would have been nice.
Posted by Frank at February 26, 2008 12:44 PM
One of the strong points here is the flexibility our bill affords people who struggle to maintain multiple responsibilities. Noone decides when they get sick, or when a loved one gets sick.