LA Times: For many ill with the flu, staying home isn't an option

[marmar]

For many ill with the flu, staying home isn't an option
Workers without paid sick leave are often penalized for absences. Congress plans to consider legislation next week that would guarantee workers paid sick time.

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
November 13, 2009


Glynndana Shevlin awoke Oct. 30 with a runny nose and scratchy throat, worried she might have the flu. But the full-time food and beverage concierge at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim has no paid sick days, and if her absences stack up, she faces discipline.

So like many others in the service industry, Shevlin, 49, weighed her options and reported to work sick.

"I thought I could make it," said Shevlin, who has worked at the hotel for 21 years.

Four hours into her shift -- and after several trips to the bathroom to retch -- Shevlin asked to leave early. She lost wages and was docked disciplinary points.

"I felt like I was being punished for doing the right thing," she said.

Though President Obama has declared H1N1 flu a national emergency and federal health and labor officials have urged sick workers to stay home, for many that's not an option. A third of the nation's workers don't have paid sick days -- about 51 million people, according to U.S. Department of Labor estimates last spring. That percentage rises to about 40% in California, according to a study last year.

Congress plans to consider legislation next week that would guarantee workers paid sick time. For now, some feel torn between public health and protecting their jobs. Nationwide, 84% of workers said they felt pressured to come to work sick because of the recession, according to a September poll by Vancouver-based Angus Reid Strategies. The poll also showed that 69% of workers had not been offered vaccines or other precautions from employers. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-me-swine-flu-workplace13-2009nov13,0,5633973.story

[trotsky]

1. "She lost wages and was docked disciplinary points."

That is just fucking insane. How did it get this bad? Wait, I know the answer. The steady chipping away and weakening of unions has screwed us all.

[endless october]

2. any food serving facility that forces people to come in sick

should be seized and liquidated.

i'm very tired of going to get a meal somewhere during cold season and seeing that the person making my sandwich is melting down like Outbreak.

[Posteritatis]

6. Indeed. I love that the business is clearly identified in the article for a change. (nt)

[PearliePoo2]

9. I hope they feel the heat but good.

Bastards.

[DBoon]

17. unfortunately, Disney is notorious for their brutal employment practices

there is a reason it has been nicknamed "mauschwitz"

[PearliePoo2]

21. Disney???

Say it ain't so!
Maybe the question needs to be asked, "WWMD? (What Would Mickey Do?)"

[PearliePoo2]

12. No kidding!

They are a freakin' public health hazard. Shut them down and fine their ass big time.

[nashville_brook]

27. wouldn't it be great if you could call a local health inspector when you see

obviously sick people serving food in restaurants, and something actually be done about it.

[L0oniX]

3. How about we sue the work place for an unsafe work environment

[SammyWinstonJack]

7. +1

:thumbsup: Is this a great country or what? :silly:

[Posteritatis]

4. I loathe this kind of BS

A friend of mine actually got fired from his job a couple of months ago for "unscheduled illness."

Yes, that's right, his employer required people to give advance notice for taking sick days.

[Lugnut]

29. It happened to my daughter.

She lost her job because she needed time off for gall bladder surgery.

Most of the employers around here have various points systems for absences. If you accrue too many points you are shown the door. It's barbaric.

[Deep13]

5. What? Days off for serfs?

If they can't work for their corporate overlords, they have no value.

:sarcasm:

[Mari333]

8. The DC beltway crowd live in a BUBBLE

they have no clue as to how horrible it is for a person to lose a day of work. people are barely surviving out there, and one day missed means not eating that week, or losing your heat or home. They are such idiots in DC, where they have their own chauffeurs at taxpayers expense, and can take all the days off they want to go golfing.
They throw out these platitudes like 'Take a week off of work if you are sick!" as tho anyone can do that. Morons!! people are being nickled and dimed to death .

I hate the beltway crowd with all my being.

[City Lights]

28. +1!

:applause:

[Captain Hilts]

10. Again, compared to Europe and Canada, we treat our employees cruely. nt

[Posteritatis]

13. We're "good" at sickday policy failure up here too

The friend I mentioned in #4 upthread is in Alberta.

[Captain Hilts]

14. Ontario is MUCH better on this stuff. I lived in GTA for 4 years +.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_70unoNkdPWk/R4RCeBTVKEI/AAAAAAAAAsU/nBV0xBFdfz8/s400/honest+eds.jpg

[Posteritatis]

16. Nova Scotia's hit and miss but there's a lot of pressure to be more hit the past couple months

Also, Honest Ed's deeply terrifies me.

[Captain Hilts]

24. I've got friends in Halifax who live on Robie St. Yeah, Honest Ed's IS scary!

and so not like anything else in the city.

[marmar]

18. Honest Ed's gives me a headache......

.....and once you go in there, it's impossible to find the exit.

:scared:

[Captain Hilts]

23. In such a 'tasteful' city, I thought I'd taken a wrong turn at Albequerque when I saw that.

It's so NON-Tee Oh!

[meegbear]

11. SOCIALISM!!!!1!

[bluestateguy]

15. I stopped eating at restaurants

I may not do so again until the Spring when the flu has passed. Restaurants tend to employ workers without sick time, and I'm not going to take my chances with that.

[DBoon]

19. given a choice between fomenting a deadly pandemic and costing them money

many businesses would rather have the pandemic than pay a penny in sick leave

[Bitwit1234]

20. People where my son works are afraid

to take off. They get demerits and are denied raises if they miss time sick. And some don't get paid. The company tells them to take off but this particular manager punishes them if they do. Which is nuts. They are a service organization and can spread it everywhere.

[fascisthunter]

22. another concept too hard for the priviledged to understand

yet they will have no problem in telling those folks how to live or what to do.

[The Backlash Cometh]

25. Two weeks and one day.

That's how long it took before I began to feel better. I really don't know how working people are going to get through this thing if they're going back to work right away. Something needs to be done for them.

[nashville_brook]

26. stay the hell out of corporate restaurants until paid sick leave is approved -- it's a matter of

good health, hygiene, and security. :evilgrin:

[RFKHumphreyObama]

30. At least she's given the name of where she works

I hope they take a lot of heat over this

[uppityperson]

31. I stayed home, thinking may have flu, thought got part time sick pay, was wrong.

Thank you health care facility that I work at for requiring people to work 30 hours a week to get ANY sick pay. Now I know that you want people who only work part time to come in sick. The rationale I was given was that part time people only work part time so will only miss part time pay which isn't a big thing. Eyeroll on my part.

I asked if I should just come in sick next time since I cannot afford to miss any pay and was told no, I should simply start working full time.

[Echo In Light]

32. Translation: we're fuckin em on HC, so let's give em the illusion of a lil help

... a little, mind you, not a lot