It started as a pain in her wrist. Marilyn Washington, a home care provider in San Antonio, Texas, began to notice the ache after several years of working. Her doctor told her rest was the cure, but she couldn’t afford to miss work. So she worked through the pain, and her wrist got worse.
Many American workers share experiences like Marilyn’s: as working folks, dependent on their jobs, workers without paid sick days have no wiggle room for self-care or to care for their loved ones.
Workers like Marilyn show why we need to win access to paid leave for workers nationwide: because no one should have to risk their livelihood to care for themselves or someone they love. New data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics on access to paid sick days show that we are moving the needle in the right direction.
The report illustrates that wins matter. Since 2010, 13 states and 21 other jurisdictions have enacted paid sick days laws. According to the BLS, 73% of private sector workers now have paid sick days, up from 58% in 2010. Access has increased 49 percent for service workers.
As more states and localities enact paid sick days laws, access is improving, but big gaps and disparities remain. More than one in four workers – 32 million people – still don’t earn a single paid sick day. Less than half of part-time workers earn paid sick time. Regionally, workers in the midwest and the south were less likely to have access to paid leave across the board.
What happens without paid sick days? In Marilyn’s case, her pain became so unbearable that she had to stop working, and ultimately she was out of work for three months while her wrist healed. Her electricity was turned off and she struggled to pay her other bills. “If I’d had paid sick days,” Marilyn says, “I would have been able to rest my wrist before it got worse, and I wouldn’t have been out of work for so long.” In the end, Marilyn, her employer, and her client all suffered.
Marilyn’s need for paid sick days, and the needs of the 32 million other workers in her shoes, are why it’s so important that Congress passes the Healthy Families Act (HFA). The HFA would guarantee workers up to seven job-protected paid sick days each year to be used to recover from their own illnesses, access preventive care, provide care to a sick family member, or attend school meetings related to a child’s health condition or disability. With more than 175 Co-Sponsors in the House and Senate – and counting – support for the HFA is growing. Now is the time for us to pass this life-changing legislation; making access to paid leave a reality for everyone, for Marilyn, and every worker just like her.
“If decision-makers ever walked in our shoes – those of working families – then they’d know how hard our families struggle without paid sick days,” says Marilyn. “We worry about bills stacking up when we should be concerned with our health.” That’s why Marilyn Washington – who we will celebrate October 15 as one of our GameChangers – became a leader in the fight for paid sick days in San Antonio, which is scheduled to take effect in December of this year..
By Safiya Simmons, Family Values @ Work
