3 ms·

"According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average number of paid sick days often corresponds directly with years of service. Here are the averages for wor

"According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average number of paid sick days often corresponds directly with years of service. Here are the averages for workers in private industry: Workers receive 7 sick days per year with 1 to 5 years of service. Workers receive 8 sick days per year with 5 to 10 years of service." + "For colds, most individuals become contagious about a day before cold symptoms develop and remain contagious for about five to seven days." / "If you have the flu, you'll be contagious one day before developing symptoms and up to five to seven days after becoming ill." = One cold would take up all your sick days. By following your recommendation, someone falling sick more than once a year would have to quit their job.

DelightOne 7y ago
Doesn't sound nice true. How do you transmit the flu to others without symptoms like sneezing/running nose?
- chmod775 7y ago
  There exists a metric ton of other possible vectors for viruses to spread. It depends on the virus though. We don't yet conclusively know what vectors this virus can use to spread.
  - DelightOne 7y ago
    I read on on alot, thank you.
chmod775 7y ago
The concept of "paid sick days" baffles me. It implies that when the doctor says you're too sick to work and hands you a certificate, you won't get paid by default or that it should even be legal to not pay you. No wonder Americans are so reluctant to see the doctor, if both the doctor is expensive and also they won't get paid if they're sick. In most EU countries you are not allowed to work and your employer will get into trouble if he lets you work when you've got a sick cert. Your employer obviously also has to pay you and is not allowed to fire you for getting sick[1]. If this outbreak causes the US to update its workers protections for the 21st century, at least something good will come out of it. [1]: in some countries you can receive a reduction in pay after being sick for X months in a row, usually to ~60%.
- penagwin 7y ago
  The service industry such as fast food has virtually no "paid sick days", and conveniently are jobs with lots of people interaction, poor pay, and poor if any health insurance. So you "might" have the cold or coronavirus - do you go to the ER (costs hundreds even with insurance) and lose out on your pay? (Not to mention you'll likely have your hours cut as "punishment"). Or do you tough it out and keep making money that you need to pay for your rent?
  - downerending 7y ago
    Once worked for a Wall Street firm that had a "no sick days" policy. I came in every single day, sick as a dog or not, and as far as I can recall, everyone else did, too. It's not just the poor--some of this really just is our (crazy) culture.
    - mjevans 7y ago
      If that's the case, make sure you make the coffee / drinks / etc for as many decision makers as possible so they get the gunk from the glass.
- vageli 7y ago
  As someone who has worked in the service industry as a server, manager, and eventually part-owner, why should we burden the business owner with the responsibility to pay when someone is sick and unable to work? This is compounded by the fact that service industry often requires physical presence, which translates to the business having to pay both the sick worker and the worker's temporary replacement. Doesn't this fall to the government to create some kind of aid? At the very least, the gov could offer a tax break for wages paid sick workers.
  - inetknght 7y ago
    > why should we burden the business owner with the responsibility to pay when someone is sick and unable to work? Is it really such burden to the business owner to see to the well-being of their employees? > At the very least, the gov could offer a tax break for wages paid sick workers. I like this idea, tbqh.
owenmarshall 7y ago
It's really fun to think about how Covid-19 will do in a country where the average worker has too few sick days, and where the cultural norm is to "just bear it" and continue working/attending school/being in public even when sick.
celticninja 7y ago
* applies to the US. And less developed nations.
filoleg 7y ago
This is sad, but luckily, a lot of people in our industry can just work from home on sick days (even though, normally, working remote for them wouldn't be an option). On my team specifically (as well as my old team), you would be pretty much turned away and asked to stay home if you were sick, which is something I have come to heavily appreciate.

DelightOne 7y ago

Doesn't sound nice true. How do you transmit the flu to others without symptoms like sneezing/running nose?

chmod775 7y ago
There exists a metric ton of other possible vectors for viruses to spread. It depends on the virus though. We don't yet conclusively know what vectors this virus can use to spread.
- DelightOne 7y ago
  I read on on alot, thank you.

chmod775 7y ago

The concept of "paid sick days" baffles me. It implies that when the doctor says you're too sick to work and hands you a certificate, you won't get paid by default or that it should even be legal to not pay you. No wonder Americans are so reluctant to see the doctor, if both the doctor is expensive and also they won't get paid if they're sick. In most EU countries you are not allowed to work and your employer will get into trouble if he lets you work when you've got a sick cert. Your employer obviously also has to pay you and is not allowed to fire you for getting sick[1]. If this outbreak causes the US to update its workers protections for the 21st century, at least something good will come out of it. [1]: in some countries you can receive a reduction in pay after being sick for X months in a row, usually to ~60%.

penagwin 7y ago
The service industry such as fast food has virtually no "paid sick days", and conveniently are jobs with lots of people interaction, poor pay, and poor if any health insurance. So you "might" have the cold or coronavirus - do you go to the ER (costs hundreds even with insurance) and lose out on your pay? (Not to mention you'll likely have your hours cut as "punishment"). Or do you tough it out and keep making money that you need to pay for your rent?
- downerending 7y ago
  Once worked for a Wall Street firm that had a "no sick days" policy. I came in every single day, sick as a dog or not, and as far as I can recall, everyone else did, too. It's not just the poor--some of this really just is our (crazy) culture.
  - mjevans 7y ago
    If that's the case, make sure you make the coffee / drinks / etc for as many decision makers as possible so they get the gunk from the glass.
vageli 7y ago
As someone who has worked in the service industry as a server, manager, and eventually part-owner, why should we burden the business owner with the responsibility to pay when someone is sick and unable to work? This is compounded by the fact that service industry often requires physical presence, which translates to the business having to pay both the sick worker and the worker's temporary replacement. Doesn't this fall to the government to create some kind of aid? At the very least, the gov could offer a tax break for wages paid sick workers.
- inetknght 7y ago
  > why should we burden the business owner with the responsibility to pay when someone is sick and unable to work? Is it really such burden to the business owner to see to the well-being of their employees? > At the very least, the gov could offer a tax break for wages paid sick workers. I like this idea, tbqh.

owenmarshall 7y ago

It's really fun to think about how Covid-19 will do in a country where the average worker has too few sick days, and where the cultural norm is to "just bear it" and continue working/attending school/being in public even when sick.

celticninja 7y ago

* applies to the US. And less developed nations.

filoleg 7y ago

This is sad, but luckily, a lot of people in our industry can just work from home on sick days (even though, normally, working remote for them wouldn't be an option). On my team specifically (as well as my old team), you would be pretty much turned away and asked to stay home if you were sick, which is something I have come to heavily appreciate.