Writing a Letter to the Editor of your local newspaper is a great way to support the Paid Sick Days campaign! For example, Jim Bennett recently wrote Granting Sick Days A Moral Issue in the Chillicothe Gazette.
Jim ends his letter by saying "I, for one, would like to see our state legislators - who never tire of telling us how much they believe in "family values" - pass laws that actually value families. Paid sick days would be a good first step."
You can use any of the information you find on this website, or relay a personal experience about the need for Paid Sick Days. Perhaps you have faced the choice of going to work sick, were not able to pick up a sick child from school, or put your job in jeopardy to assist an ill parent.
It's time that the backbone of Ohio's economy is able to earn paid sick days to care for themselves and their families!
Front Page, NewsPosted by SickDaysOhio.org on April 3, 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.
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Comments
Posted by Thomas Snow at April 8, 2008 12:00 PM
I think that it only fari to gie workers paid sick days.
Posted by taryl mcginnis at April 8, 2008 4:49 PM
yes, give ohio workers some sick days... i am tired of getting sick from people who should be at home.... or hearing of lost jobs due to illness or surgery - sometimes even if the work enviroment has made them ill in the beginning
Posted by taryl mcginnis at April 8, 2008 4:49 PM
yes, give ohio workers some sick days... i am tired of getting sick from people who should be at home.... or hearing of lost jobs due to illness or surgery - sometimes even if the work enviroment has made them ill in the beginning
Posted by bryon kocher at April 8, 2008 7:39 PM
Hello, I for one would love to see companies out there that dont have paid sick days for there employees be made to give there employees some time off to not only take care of there children but there selfs as well.. I am speaking from experience,as i have 4 kids and my place of employment has well over 100 employess at one location..But they do not offer sick time... if u need to take time off because of being sick or your child is sick ... u either have to use your vacation time if u have any... or lose your days pay to take the time needed to get better or what ever the case may be... So i do support the cause to pass a bill for healthy familes/ sick days
Thank you for your time.
Posted by Elizabeth Hammons at April 17, 2008 5:11 PM
All Ohians need paid sick days just as the politicians do. If you are fortunate enough to have a job, paid sick days should be an automatic expectation of the employment agreement just as a pay check is. Considering all of the pressures we are under to be able to afford healthcare and insurance, getting a short paycheck doesn't help. I needed a particular surgery several years ago, but wasn't able to afford the time off work. I've recently had the surgery, and will possibly suffer permanent nerve damage because I waited so long. I'm sure many people are in the same position I was in....I was not eligible for FMLA (not enough employees at my workplace) and since I would not be working, my employer would stop paying their share of my health insurance. I know my situation could have been much worse, and I consider myself lucky to have a better job now, but the company does not provide paid sick days and who knows how long I'll have the better job considering the economy and especially gasoline prices??
Thank You
Posted by Kathryn at April 27, 2008 11:55 AM
"What do you call it when state legislators refuse to provide paid sick days for average Ohio workers ---while asking those same workers to pay for the legislators’ sick days?Ohioans for Healthy Families calls it “hypocrisy” ---with a “capitol” H. On April 8, spokespersons for the 200-organization statewide coalition fighting to bring paid sick days to Ohio will lift the veil on the General Assembly’s own practices regarding paid sick days.OHF communications director Dale Butland previewed the news conference this way:
“ 42% of Ohio’s private sector workforce ---some 2.2 million people ---don’t have a single paid sick day they can use to take care of themselves or their families when illness strikes. And despite the fact that 270,000 voters from all 88 Ohio counties signed petitions asking the General Assembly to enact it, the Ohio Healthy Families Act continues to collect dust nearly three months after going to the legislature.“But thanks to a public records request, the legislative leadership’s hypocrisy is clear. The politicians themselves enjoy paid sick days ---and at taxpayer expense. In fact, they take paid days off for all kinds of reasons. It’s time Ohioans knew the truth about their elected representatives.”
LIKE it states we need paid sick days!!!
Posted by Rex at May 3, 2008 9:46 PM
I for one would love to see everyone of Ohio's workers Get these paid sick days. Where I work the closest thing we have is personal days that require 24 hours notice, and you don't always know that far ahead, and if you go ahead and take a day to recover you are penalized with 2 attendance points, and lose a days pay, This is just not acceptable.