Sen. Jehlen: Workers Should Stay Home to Contain Flu

Jehlen Urges Senate to Consider Paid Sick Days to Prevent Flu OutbreakThe following statement was released by State Senator Pat Jehlen (D-Somerville, Medford) on Friday, May 1, 2009:

This week Senator Patricia Jehlen (D-Somerville) urged her colleagues, as they approved legislation to prepare the Commonwealth in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak, that it is not just about being prepared for an outbreak, it is also about prevention- and one of the best ways to prevent illness is through paid sick days.

“If Massachusetts is serious about preventing a swine flu type epidemic or any other illness, workers must be given paid sick time in order to stop the spread of the germs and viruses,” said Senator Jehlen. “Too many workers cannot afford to stay home, regardless of the public health consequences.”

Currently 1.4 million Massachusetts workers lack a single paid sick day- yet this week both the Center for Disease Control and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health urged workers who experience flu like symptoms to stay home to contain the illness. Workers without paid sick days are forced to choose between losing a day’s pay or even their job, and their health.

“Threat of a swine flu epidemic reminds us once again that the change we need is a basic component of public health,” said Senator Jehlen. “Paid sick days make sense from a public health view point.”

The Institute for Women’s Policy Research estimates that making paid sick days universal in Massachusetts would prevent over 33,000 flu infections in workplaces across the Commonwealth annually. Paid Sick Days would benefit precisely the group most at risk of needing health care services, workers in poor health, removing a barrier to getting those services in a timely and less costly manner than a trip to the emergency room.

Senator Jehlen and Representative Kay Khan (D-Newton) have filed legislation, supported by 93 other legislators, to guarantee every worker in the Commonwealth the ability to earn up to seven paid sick days a year. S. 688, An Act Establishing Paid Sick Days, is currently before the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development and is awaiting a public hearing.