Should Paid Sick Days Be Required?

Most U.S. companies offer their employees a certain number of days that they can stay home if they’re sick and still get paid. But not all. In fact, about a quarter of American workers don’t have paid sick days.

As the coronavirus pandemic has swept across the country, an increasing number of lawmakers are asking whether the federal government should require that all employers offer paid sick leave for all workers. Two U.S. senators face off about whether that would be the right thing for Washington to do.

November 2, 2020

As Covid-19 began spreading through American communities last winter and spring, public health officials repeated a simple but effective piece of advice in their quest to slow the virus: If you feel sick, stay home from work. But for workers who don’t get paid if they don’t show up, that can be very hard to do.

The United States is one of the only wealthy, industrialized countries in the world that have no federal policy guaranteeing workers the right to stay home when they’re sick and still be paid. In the U.S., one out of every four workers have no paid sick days.

For these 34 million workers without paid sick days, getting sick means having to choose between taking the day off to get well and losing a paycheck—or going into work sick and risking the health of themselves, their colleagues, and their community. Their dilemma is all the more difficult because, according to a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the workers who lack this important right are much more likely to be at the bottom of the wage scale and the least able to make do with a smaller paycheck.

If you’re sick, you should be able to stay home without financial hardship.

That’s why I’ve long pushed for federal legislation requiring paid sick days. It wouldn’t just help workers—it would also help keep our communities healthy and our economies strong. Recent studies show that providing paid sick days reduces the spread of flu-like illnesses and ultimately helps businesses by increasing productivity.

U.S. Senate Photographic Studio-John Klemmer

Never has our country so desperately needed a paid sick leave policy than during the coronavirus crisis. If more workers had been able to stay home when they were sick without losing a paycheck, we could have significantly reduced the spread of the coronavirus at the beginning of this pandemic.

The health of our communities depends on everyone having the right to stay home if they’re sick without facing financial hardship. The United States must join nearly every other wealthy country in establishing a national paid sick days policy.

—SENATOR PATTY MURRAY

Democrat of Washington

If you get sick and have to miss a day at school, do you have to make up the test you missed, or are all your tests completed for you? You still have to do the work. In the world of work, people also get sick and have to stay home, but the work still has to be done, and it’s not right to get paid for work you didn’t do. That’s why the government shouldn’t require employers to pay workers when they call in sick.

Paid sick days are a benefit that companies of all sizes use to attract the best employees. When a company provides paid vacation days, a cellphone, or paid sick leave, people want to work there. But when companies are young or very small and don’t have as big a budget to spend on these kinds of perks, should the government mandate that every business still provide paid sick leave? No.

Requiring paid sick leave will make it harder for people to start small businesses.

Imagine that you start a yard-mowing business. You work hard, and your reputation grows. Eventually, you ask a few friends to start mowing with you and you pay them for each yard they mow. If one of your friends texts you that they’re sick, you still have to mow the yard they were supposed to mow. Here is the question: Should you pay them anyway? You might choose to, but you definitely shouldn’t be required to.

U.S. Senate Photographic Studio-Joy Holder

Even though American law has traditionally not required paid sick days, many businesses have long offered that benefit. The Covid-19 crisis has prompted a temporary change in the law regarding paid sick leave until we develop a vaccine that prevents Americans from catching the virus.* But after we cure Covid-19, we should return to encouraging—but not mandating—businesses to develop good paid sick leave policies to attract the best talent.

People want to work for businesses that provide some security for employees, including paid sick leave. If we force small businesses to provide more paid benefits, it will make it harder to start a new business in America and harder to hire more people.

—SENATOR JAMES LANKFORD

Republican of Oklahoma

*Paid sick leave is required for a limited group of workers (employees of companies with more than 50 employees but fewer than 500) until the end of 2020