I was going to post something about this this morning but didn't get around to it and anyway this post has some stats I would have had to dig up - waiting for somebody else to do it better was a good idea.
Yglesias points out "The Centers for Disease Control sensibly suggests that in these times of swine flu, if you get sick you should stay home rather than spread the disease to your coworkers..." and then quotes Pat Garofalo: "Currently, nearly 50 percent of private-sector workers have no paid sick days. For low-income workers, the number jumps to 76 percent, and climbs to 86 percent for food service workers."
(I'm among the 50 percent that get no pay if they don't do the time.)
Think about it - when was the last time you were in a restaurant, a grocery store, a convenience store, or for that matter on a bus or in an airplane - where somebody was obviously sick? Not long ago, would be my bet.
With so many people trying to piece together a living wage from low-pay service-sector jobs - and sometimes two or even three jobs - it just isn't reasonable to expect a person to stay home and lose pay just because they feel a cold - or a little flu - coming on.
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