The Madison ordinance requiring employer-paid sick leave is clearing its final hurdles before it will be decided by the Common Council, a vote expected in April – and one which is likely to be very close.
Activists with the Healthy Families, Healthy City campaign are negotiating compromises with city alders and members of the business community. However, the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce has refused to even discuss the details of the ordinance and seems determined to fight the measure in any form.
More than 100 nations guarantee a week or more of paid sick leave, and in the U.S. it’s a benefit union members largely take for granted. So, many are surprised to learn that an estimated 39,000 Madison workers (18 percent), largely women and minorities working in low-wage jobs, have NO paid sick days. These are the workers who don't get sick leave now and who need it the most.
9to5, the National Association of Working Women, has put together a booklet entitled: 10 Things that Could Happen to You If You Didn’t Have Paid Sick Days.
The following four stories from that booklet are from Wisconsin women who needed a paid sick day and couldn’t get it. They illustrate the many real consequences to workers and their families when workers lack realistic flexibility. Without paid sick time, here’s what could happen to you:
You lose your job when your child is injured
When my son got hit by a car, he didn’t tell me right away, because he was worried I would lose my job. An older child called me at work and said, “Mom, Eric’s crying. He got hit by a car. You have to come home.” I told my boss, who said I’d be fired if I left. I knew my child had to go to the emergency room, so I left anyway - and I was fired. The x-ray showed Eric had a broken arm.
- Robbie Bickerstaff, Wisconsin
Take a care of sick child and you won’t get paid
I am currently working at a job without paid sick days. I have a 5 year-old daughter. I have had to take her to work when she was sick. It’s so difficult to get anything done. At a recent job, I had to take unpaid time to care for my daughter. When I came back, I was called into the office and told that I needed to decide whether I wanted to work there or if I wanted to “be a mom.” Who’s going to care for a sick child when you have no family to help? Financially we were struggling, but because I stayed home with my sick daughter, I was placed on a two-day suspension.
- Tina Orth, Wisconsin
You’re forced to expose the public to disease
I was working at a fast-food restaurant for over three years full-time. I started when I was just 17 and was working close to 50 hours a week from the beginning. I never had any paid sick time after three years of working there. Once I started to feel sick and began vomiting, I told my supervisor I needed to leave but they said I couldn’t go. I know that’s against safety violations, but they told me I had to finish my shift, which was until 4AM. I was so sick and exhausted, but I still had to serve food. When I finally got to a doctor, they told me I had the flu and needed to get rest immediately. While I was getting worse, every customer I served was exposed to that winter’s flu virus.
- Connie Smith, Wisconsin
You’re forced to put public safety at risk
I am a school bus driver and a mother. I drove children to school for six years without having any paid sick days. When my own children had a common cold or an ear infection, I would have to take an unpaid day to take care of them. That created financial crisis in my household. When it came to my own personal health, I often worked with migraines because I couldn’t afford to miss days. I know drivers who had to go to work with untreated diabetes symptoms, knowing they might have a seizure. Employers who don’t provide paid sick days are really putting lives at risk. The workers at my bus company organized and won a union election. We’re happy about that but we know that all workers deserve paid sick days.
- Kimberly Miller, Wisconsin
To read 9to5’s booklet, 10 Things that Could Happen to You If You Didn’t Have Paid Sick Days, visit: www.9to5.org
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