What's Your Opinion: Should all workers have the right to earn paid sick leave?

Just lump all paid time off into a single category, "Paid Time Off" Calling it sick leave just encourages lying as it gets used for something other than illness.

Paid time off should also be portable from one job to the next

Sick leave should be accrued in addition to "paid time off" or "vacation" or "leave," however it is spelled out. Additionally, as in the DOD, coworkers should be allowed to donate annual leave to assist an ill coworker.

Should all workers have the right to earn paid sick leave? What about salaried employees? It's not exactly "earning", so much as it is "granted" paid sick leave. That being said, whether or not it is "earned" as in accrued throughout the year, or it's "granted" as in given out all at once at the beginning of the year - I think there should be some measure of paid sick leave. I think there's some things to be learned from looking at other first world countries and how they handle paid sick leave (let alone vacation time). The fact that many nations in Europe, for example, have policies in their country where it's extremely common for everyone to have 4 weeks of paid vacation time, on top of other regular benefits... You'd have to work between 5 to 20 years (depending on what company) here in the states to get that level of benefit. And sometimes your past experience doesn't transfer over - even if you have 25 years in an industry, your new employer may not care nor negotiate the point and still start you at the bottom tier...

You will always have employees that will take advantage of paid sick days. But if they have to "earn" them that would cut down on some of it, as they would have to work so many hours to get an hour. Plus I believe that those employees that will not use their earned sick days should also be able to carry them over to the next year or get paid the dollars for them at the end of the year. That is a win-win - and it helps to encourage better attendance.

As previously noted, the idea of earning sick time, or just lumping all paid time off together would encourage employees to use the time as they need to. I also like the idea of "sick time banks" for employees to donate to for coworkers who experience long term illness. There should also be employer policies and practices that encourage sick employees (especially during cold and flu season) to stay home to cut down on transmission to the rest of the work force.

Why is this a right? The FMLA guarantees all employees up to 12 weeks a year without fear of losing their jobs. Now they should be guaranteed pay? Never mind the additional cost to the employer, the issue is societal in that we have an ever growing workforce of employees expecting the same earnings (pay, insurance, leave time, etc) as those who have “worked” for theirs. When I say worked, I am referring to putting effort put in on and off the job; performance, education, self-improvement. They have the “right” to; a safe workplace, opportunity for advancement, and earnings based on knowledge, capability, experience, and value to the employer, benefits are not a right.

Workers should beable to earn payed sick leave only if the company offers it. To many workers abuse payed sick leave programs. This is one area where the few make it bad for the majority. It should not be mandatory for companies to offer this perk.

It is another cost to the employer. Another requirement that must be provided whether the employee would find value in the benefit or not. Everybody likes a freebie this would appear to be a freebie, it is not. It costs money, it costs time and it will raise the cost to the consumer regardless the employer, government, big business or small employer. One more reason to send jobs overseas. Who is our competition overseas for jobs? Is it France or Germany not likely, most jobs go overseas to low wage countries like China, India and Mexico. Think of it this way, would you pay for a dinner a an expensive restaurant and then have it given to someone else in the restaurant? Would you pay for a new TV and not take it home? Not likely? You want an employer to pay for your time but not receive the benefit from it. It sucks to be sick and it sucks to not get paid for being sick. Would you take cash out of your pocket to pay someone who is sick? Would be happy if it was required of you? If it is law it becomes the floor, below which nobody can go. If it is left as it is employees can negotiate for the benefit, if business is good, it can be agreed to it is business is bad it can be taken away. As employee I would rather have a higher wage then paid time off or sick pay and I would prefer the flexibility to negotiate that.

I wrote a research paper on this subject during my Master's degree program. If employees have paid sick leave they are less likely to come to work while sick. Coming to work while sick, or "presenteeism" costs the employer in two ways: the sick worker is not working up to normal capacity and may cause rework or poor quality work, and if the ill worker is contageous, will cause others to become sick, creating a mini-pandemic effect where more workers are out sick or working while sick. It is more cost effective to pay the sick worker to stay home.

Without paid sick leave, employees (especially those who cannot afford to go a day or more without pay, such as those in minimum-wage jobs) take their diseases with them to work and infect their co-workers and customers. Paid sick leave enables people to get over the illness at home, and is better for public health and the company's bottom line, since other workers aren't being infected.

Sick leave is not a right; it is a benefit that is negotiated, just like salary. Calling it a "right" implies that everyone, to include farmers and the other self-employed have a "right" to get it as well. Who would pay for that? Would that be another government program that would push us faster over twenty trillion dollars in debt that we as a nation can't afford?

Often we are exposed to the illness or whatever causes the injury through work so they should allow us time off to recover. Plus in many positions, when you come to work sick you are exposing other employees as well as customers and/or vendors.

While not inclined to find one size fits all meaning there are legitimate reasons for not having paid time off for all employees (e.g. seasonal employees as one example) if its good and affordable for the head goose (read CEOs) then its good enough for their ganders (the worker bees that make them their living). We should not let the outsource threats reduce our working class to serfs. Companies that outsource our jobs should be prevented from insourcing their wares. It can be done.