Statement: UCLA WORLD Policy Analysis Center study confirms the importance of paid sick leave in fighting COVID-19

Statement from Wendy Chun-Hoon, Executive Director of Family Values @ Work, on new UCLA WORLD Policy Analysis Center study confirming the importance of paid sick leave in fighting COVID-19 and beyond:

“Today we welcome a new, in-depth study by the UCLA WORLD Policy Analysis Center that affirms the crucial role of paid sick leave in protecting health and economic security in the U.S. and around the globe. This research points to the need for swift and decisive action by Congress in the next Coronavirus relief package to ensure paid sick and caregiving leave for all.

“Using a multi-lingual team that analyzed policies in 193 countries, co-lead author Dr. Jody Heymann and colleagues affirmed what our network has been arguing for many years:

• In order to stop the spread of a pandemic – and of illnesses that are among us all the time – people need to be able to follow the advice of the CDC and stay home while sick. We all need paid time to go to the doctor, get tested, self-quarantine if needed, and recover fully if ill.
• The U.S. is one of only 11 countries worldwide that does not guarantee any paid sick time, either paid sick days or longer paid family and medical leave. For millions of people, following health rules violates their employment rules and results in loss of critical income and jobs.
• Those without paid sick time are 1.5 times more likely to work while contagious. “The cost of providing paid sick leave is modest compared to the cost of reining in a pandemic,” said Dr. Heymann.
• Lessons from other countries demonstrate the need for policies to be effective –  cover all workers, regardless of the size of their employer or their employment status, with adequate duration of leave and adequate pay. The authors found gaps in existing policies can leave countries vulnerable, as happened in places like Italy and Iran, among the hardest-hit with the outbreak of COVID-19.
• While Congress recognized the need for paid sick time and enacted both paid sick days and emergency paid leave in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), political maneuvering meant the exclusion of tens of  millions of workers — many of them performing essential jobs.

“We call on policymakers to study this invaluable research and put our nation on a path to health and economic security by closing the loopholes in FFCRA and making paid sick days and paid family and medical leave comprehensive, inclusive and effective during this pandemic and beyond. That means ending the carve-out of employers with more than 500 employees, which excludes millions of workers from access to paid sick leave; guaranteeing access to paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave for health care and emergency responders; and expanding emergency paid leave at full pay to include COVID-related care for oneself or a family member, not just for the care of children whose school or child care is closed.

“We look forward to partnering with the UCLA WORLD Policy Analysis Center and will be holding a Facebook Live session with Dr. Heymann this week.”

The Center’s press release can be found here.

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