Sick at Work

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The day after her baby was diagnosed with pneumonia, Yahaira German went to work.

The 25-year-old machine operator doesn't have paid sick days through her job at Polartec in Lawrence, Mass., and she couldn't afford to stay home. So German left her little girl with care instructions for the baby sitter, who wasn't thrilled about looking after a sick infant.

"It's very hard when you don't have sick days," German said. "I wish I could quit my job and get something better. But it's very hard to find a job right now. We have to get what we can get in order to survive."

German is one of the millions of workers without paid sick time. Of particular concern are those workers that deal with the public -- waiters, child-care staff, nursing-home aides -- many of whom don't have paid sick time. These workers, especially those with lower wages, may feel compelled to show up to work when ill for fear of losing their wages or even their job.

"Especially with the economic situation as it is, workers are anxious. As a result they go into work when they are sick," said Karen Minatelli, director of work and family programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families. "If they stay home, they lose pay. It's terrible. People shouldn't have to make that kind of difficult decision."

The recent swine-flu scare highlights the difficult situation facing workers without paid sick time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told sick Americans to stay home. And while common sense tells employees and employers that it's in everyone's best interest for the sick to stay home, such a solution may be beyond the economic reach of many.

The U.S. is the only wealthy country that does not require any form of paid sick days or leave, according to a new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research that compares policies among 22 countries that are highly ranked in terms of economic and human development.

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http://www.marketwatch.com/story/calls-grow-for-paid-sick-days-for-all-workers

I thought about this when the CDC told Americans to stay home if they're sick. I thought, what planet is the CDC living on? Everybody knows sick Americans aren't allowed to stay home. If the swine flu comes back I guess we'll all have to die. Make sure to breathe on as many conservatives as you can before you go.

Much worse. A little background:

Aaron Feuerstein, an Orthodox Jewish person, (born 1925) was the third-generation owner<1> and CEO of Malden Mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

When the Malden Mills factory burnt down on December 11, 1995, Feuerstein decided not only to use his insurance money to rebuild it, but to also pay the salaries of all the now-unemployed workers while it was being rebuilt. Feuerstein spent millions keeping all 3,000 employees on the payroll with full benefits for 6 months. By going against common CEO business practices, especially at a time when most companies were downsizing and moving overseas, he achieved a small degree of fame.

Feuerstein claimed that he couldn't have taken another course of action due to his study of the Talmud and the lessons he learnt there:

"I have a responsibility to the worker, both blue-collar and white-collar. I have an equal responsibility to the community. It would have been unconscionable to put 3,000 people on the streets and deliver a deathblow to the cities of Lawrence and Methuen. Maybe on paper our company is worthless to Wall Street, but I can tell you it's worth more."
—(Parade Magazine, 1996)

While it would cost Aaron Feuerstein $25,000,000 to 'do the right thing' as well as the turmoil of a November 2001 filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, it appears that applied ethics in business has positive consequences as Malden Mills continues to garner lucrative Department of Defense (DOD) contracts for 'smart' products that interweave fiber optic cabling, electronic biosensors, and USB ports into polar fleece fabric. Malden Mills was awarded a $16 million dollar DOD contract in 2006<2>.

Feuerstein is an alumnus of Camp Modin in Belgrade, Maine. and was the keynote speaker at the 75th annual reunion in 1997. Feuerstein is a member of Young Israel of Brookline.

Industrialist and philanthropist for setting the standard for commitment to employees following a devastating fire at his Malden Mills manufacturing plant. He was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award on March 13, 1998. <1>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Feuerstein

I simply said that there are million of American workers who cannot just stay home from work because they are sick because they have no sick days or may risk losing their jobs. The answers I got were like, "people always have a choice" or "how can they be so selfish" or "it is unethical to risk getting others sick by going to work sick". Sadly there are a lot of DUers who are simply out of touch with the way that many Americans have to lead their lives of quiet desperation from paycheck to paycheck and live at the edge of disaster.

I mean where, if you can afford soda at all, you have to buy a store brand rather than Coke or Pepsi. Where you sweat the rent check making it. Where you get fired because you are making more money than a young kid who just got out of school.

just as it is in the rest of society.

I can't use them. I should make the time up at some other time of the day or by the end of the week. I have an idiot for a boss.

"The U.S. is the only wealthy country that does not require any form of paid sick days or leave"

and of course, the only industrialized country without universal healthcare.

(what are we, stupid sheep??)