Many people in the US are going to work sick as they cannot afford to lose pay or put their jobs in jeopardy
GLYNNDANA SHEVLIN awoke with a runny nose and scratchy throat, worried she might have the flu one morning earlier this month. But the full-time food and beverage concierge at Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California has no paid sick days, and if her absences stack up, she faces discipline.
So like many others in the service industry, Shevlin weighed her options and reported to work sick. "I thought I could make it," says Shevlin, who has worked at the hotel for 21 years. Four hours into her shift - after several bathroom trips to retch - Shevlin asked to leave early. She lost wages and was docked disciplinary points.
"I felt like I was being punished for doing the right thing," she says.
Although President Barack Obama has declared H1N1 flu a national emergency and federal health and labour officials have urged sick workers to stay home, for many that's not an option. A third of US workers don't have paid sick days, about 51 million people, according to US Department of Labor estimates last spring. Congress plans to consider legislation this week that would guarantee workers paid sick time.
For now, some feel torn between protecting their jobs and public health. Nationwide, 84 per cent of workers said they felt pressured to work sick due to the recession, according to a September poll by Vancouver, British Columbia-based Angus Reid Strategies. The poll also showed 69 per cent of workers had not been offered vaccines or other precautions from employers.
"We're all scrambling now, we're really fighting. When you're desperate to make ends meet and pay your rent, you're going to do whatever you need to do," says Stephanie Barnett of Los Angeles, an actor working part-time for catering companies. "You live on Benadryl, Nyquil, Dayquil, whatever it is. You don't breathe on the food, you keep your handiwipes with you. You're exhausted, but if you can make it through the end of the day, you're all right."
Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, medical director for Los Angeles County's Department of Public Health, says that although his organisation does not track how many people with H1N1 are going to work sick, it is likely a problem. "With the tight economy, individuals feel more pressure to come to work sick, so they're balancing that against the need to stay home and get well," he says.
Nathan Rice, a server in Los Angeles, says he has seen those pressures first hand. "I've known people who were sick as a dog and came into work anyway and loaded up on Theraflu and energy drinks and that's how they got through their shift," he says, adding that he knows employers, particularly those of small establishments, may not be in a financial position to offer sick benefits.
One in six workers say they or a family member have been fired, suspended, punished or threatened for staying home sick or to care for a sick relative, according to a survey last year by the Washington-based Public Welfare Foundation. Many large employers, such as Disney and Wal-Mart, dock workers disciplinary points for staying home even when they are ill.
Disney spokeswoman Suzi Brown says the company provides many employees with up to seven paid sick days a year they can bank. Brown says under the disciplinary point system, a worker would have to be absent three times in a month before facing discipline.
In the case of Shevlin, Brown says Shevlin's union, Unite Here Local 11, cut off sick pay for about 2,000 other workers earlier this year due to a contract dispute. A union spokesman says they were forced to eliminate the benefit because Disney refused to cover rising healthcare costs.
There is no state or federal requirement for businesses to provide paid sick leave in the US. Democratic senator Chris Dodd is pushing legislation that would require businesses with 15 or more employees to offer paid sick leave to full- and part-time workers: seven paid days off a year, or an hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked. Democrat senator George Miller has proposed legislation that would provide up to five paid sick days for workers with H1N1 flu and other contagious diseases.
"We are seeing more and more stories of workers who are infected with the virus but can't afford to stay home because they don't have paid sick leave," Miller says. "This puts both their co-workers and their customers at risk - and could cost their employers money in lost productivity."
- (Los Angeles Times/Washington Post)
