If you're sick, stay home. That's not just commonsense, it's advice public health officials dealing with Swine Flu and other infectious diseases give everyday. But for half the people reading this column, staying home might not be an option.
A shocking new report released last Thursday by the Community Service Society and A Better Balance shows that nearly half of all working New Yorkers (as many as 1.85 million people) - have no paid sick leave on the job. At least 1.3 million New Yorkers have no paid time off whatsoever (no vacation, no personal days).
For them, every cold or flu means having to choose between losing out on the paycheck they need to get by, or putting their health at risk (not to mention the health of their co-workers).
What's worse, the numbers are trending in the wrong direction. According to the report, 69% of "near-poor" workers - those earning just above the federal poverty line - had paid sick days in 2004. Today, just 33% of near-poor workers report being able to take a paid day off work when they get sick.
Finding a job in this recession is tough enough. Sick in the City shows thatfinding one that offers decent benefits is a lot harder.
Hundreds of Make the Road New York members marched over the Brooklyn Bridge and rallied in Foley Square today in support of a New York City Council bill that would make paid sick days a basic workplace standard.
Guillermo Barerra, a father of two who was fired from a Brooklyn Restaurant for asking permission to go the hospital joined the spirited rally. He told the Daily News about how he was let go: "She told me I was fired and she never wanted to see me again and I should never return...It's terrible. Employees should not be treated this way."
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