Single Mom Needs Paid Sick Days

Linda is a single mother of two teenagers. Linda's father is a Vietnam veteran who suffers from diabetes. Linda works in southern California as a security guard. Her job doesn't pay a lot of money. Unfortunately, Linda's job doesn't provide paid sick days.

Linda can't afford to take time off when her kids are sick or when her father needs to go to the hospital. Linda wishes that she had paid sick days so that she could take care of her children and her father when they are sick. Linda's wish is very simple.

You make a difference in Linda's life by signing the petition for paid sick days for California workers. Help spread the word about the petition by telling your friends and family members in California.

Worker Can't Afford to Recover from Severe Accident

Hilda lives in Los Angeles and works at job that doesn't have paid sick days. Hilda recently was injured in a severe car accident. Hilda can't afford to take time off from work to recover. Watch her story.



Make a difference in workers' lives. Sign the petition for paid sick days for California workers.

Minnesota Workers Fight for Paid Sick Days

In Minnesota, workers are fighting to pass paid sick days legislation. On March 15, Workday Minnesota published an article on this issue. According to its article, "a Minnesota House committee has approved legislation that would provide all Minnesota workers with paid sick days."

The article further cited the special plight of working women who lack paid sick days.

In a system that forces workers to choose between their health and the health of their families and their job, women tend to be disproportionately affected. One testifier, Delinia Parris, knew first hand the grave consequences of current labor practices. “

At one point there were eight days when my kids needed me, my daughter had a nervous breakdown, my son got beat up at school and my other son was diagnosed with autism. I was also experiencing health problems and couldn’t go to work and it ended up costing me my job and my apartment,” Parris explained. Missing a week of work spelled disaster for her family, Parris said. “For a while there my family was homeless just because I couldn’t miss a week of work. People need to know that not every family has a mom and a dad. There are a lot of single mothers, like myself, that have to make it on their own.”

Unfortunately Parris’ story is not uncommon. According to a recent study conducted by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, over 22 million women in the United States work without paid sick leave.

To read more, click here.

Fifteen States Introduce Paid Sick Days Legislation

The Progressive States Network recently wrote an excellent article about paid sick days legislation. In its article, the Progressive States Network stated:

"Fifteen states have introduced paid sick days legislation to ensure that workers are able to regain their health without losing pay, or even worse, their jobs. These are based on model policies that have already passed in San Francisco, CA, Milwaukee, WI and Washington, DC."

The Progressive States Network further noted:

"During fragile economic times, workers are too often forced to choose between their health, or the health of their kids, and maintaining a paycheck. Paid sick days legislation helps families avoid that tradeoff, while increasing workplace productivity by ensuring that workers don’t have to work while sick, thereby decreasing the spread of disease to coworkers."

To read more, click here.

The Popcorn Monster and Paid Sick Days

It was a rainy day. The popcorn monster was sitting at the kitchen table with a bag of cheddar cheese popcorn. She rubbed her tummy. She felt good.

The popcorn monster's cell phone beeped. She looked at her cell phone. It had the following text message:

Emergency: Popcorn workers are sick. They need your help at the store.

The popcorn monster jumped into her car and drove to the popcorn store. When the popcorn monster arrived, the store manager greeted her.

"You're a monster," said the manager. "We can't let you in here."

"Sir, I am one of your biggest customers," said the popcorn monster. "I eat your cheddar cheese popcorn every single hour of the week. I have thousands of bags at my house."

"I've never heard of a monster that eats popcorn," said the manager. "I thought you guys were into scaring people and doing bad things."

"That's just bad press that we've gotten over the centuries," said the popcorn monster. "In reality, we are very caring and gentle. We just hired a new PR firm. Next month, we'll be running ads to promote the virtues of monsters on the Internet, TV and radio."

"What's your campaign slogan?" asked the manager.

"Monsters are good for workers," replied the popcorn monster.

"Why are you here?" asked the manager.

"I received a message that the workers needed my help," replied the popcorn monster. "They apparently are sick."

"Susan must have sent you the message," said the manager. "She has been circulating a petition for paid sick days for the workers."

"What's wrong with that?" asked the popcorn monster.

"Ma'am, we can't afford it, " replied the manager.

"What happens when your workers get sick?" asked the popcorn monster.

"A lot of them come to work," said the manager. "I tell them not to sneeze in the popcorn but sometimes they do."

"That's just nasty," said the popcorn monster in a disgusted tone. "Do your customers complain?"

"Oh my goodness, we've gotten a lot of customer complaints," replied the manager. "Some of our best customers have stopped coming to the store."

"Hasn't that hurt your business?" asked the popcorn monster.

"Yeah, they now are patronizing a popcorn store in San Francisco that has paid sick days for its workers," replied the manager.

"So couldn't you win back some of your customers if you had paid sick days for workers?" asked the popcorn monster.

"Yes," said the manager.

"And with more customers, you would make more money, right?" asked the popcorn monster.

"Yes," replied the manager.

"So doesn't it make sense to provide paid sick days?" asked the popcorn monster.

"You're right," replied the manager. "If our workplace is healthy, customers will want to patronize our store. So it makes sense."

"Good," said the popcorn monster. "So what are you going to do?"

"I will send an e-mail to our workers along with our current customers and customers who've left us about our new policy on paid sick days," replied the manager.

"That's great," said the popcorn monster. "There's one more thing you can do."

"What's that?" asked the manager.

"Tell everyone you know to sign the petition for paid sick days for California workers," replied the popcorn manager.

"I will," said the manager.

The Ghost and Paid Sick Days

It was Friday afternoon. Jenny's night crew would arrive in the next thirty minutes. Business was going well at her restaurant in Sunnyvale. Profits were up and the workers seemed to like their work. With tips, the workers made a decent wage. Jenny didn't provide her workers with paid sick days because she figured they didn't need them.

Jenny went into the bathroom to wash her hands. Suddenly the lights went out. When she looked up, she saw a ghost.

"You can't be real," said Jenny. "My eyes must be playing tricks on me."

"Child, your eyes are fine," said the ghost.

"Who are you?" asked Jenny.

"Child, I can't believe you don't know who I am," said the ghost.

"Would you stop calling me child. I'm grown," said Jenny.

"I'm old enough to be your great-great-great grandma. So if I want to call you child, I can." replied the ghost.

"Wow," said Jenny. "Why are you here?"

"I am the ghost of no paid sick days."

"What does that mean?" asked Jenny.

"I am going to show you what happens when your workers lack paid sick days," said the ghost.

"Why?" asked Jenny.

"Because you have a worker who is sick," said the ghost.

"No, I don't," said Jenny.

"Yes, you do," said the ghost. "We are going to visit her now. Just close your eyes for a minute."

Jenny closed her eyes. When the ghost told her to open her eyes, she did.

They were outside a worker's apartment. They looked inside.

"That's Raquel," said Jenny.

Raquel was sneezing. Her eyes were red and her nose was running.

"Oh my gosh," said Jenny. "She looks horrible."

They watched Raquel take cough medicine and put medication in her eyes.

Raquel picked up her cell phone and punched in a number. The ghost and Jenny heard Raquel tell someone that she was going to work.

Jenny looked at the ghost and said, "Raquel should stay home."

The ghost pointed to a pile of bills on Raquel's desk. "Child, she can't stay home. If she does, she won't be able to pay her electric bill."

The ghost pointed to a notice that said the following:

Notice to shut off electricity: If you don't pay this bill in three days, we will be forced to shut off your electricity.

"It's not my problem that she's late on her bill," said Jenny. "She should manage her money better."

"Child, that's so mean." said the ghost. "Remember Raquel was out last month for a few days because her daughter was in the hospital?"

"Yes," replied Jenny.

"That caused her to get behind in her electric bill," said the ghost. "If she doesn't work today, they'll cut off her electricity."

"That's too bad," said Jenny.

"And if she comes to work, she'll get the customers sick and the other workers sick," said the ghost.

"That's true," said Jenny.

"Isn't Raquel your best food server?" asked the ghost.

"Yes," said Jenny.

"And hasn't she helped your business increase your profits by providing excellent service?" asked the ghost.

"Yes," answered Jenny.

"So she's an asset to your business, correct?" asked the ghost.

"Yes," replied Jenny.

"And don't all your workers do great work?" asked the ghost.

"Yes, I'm proud of my staff," said Jenny.

"You then need to provide paid sick days. It will keep the workplace healthy and keep the customers healthy. In the end, it's a win-win situation."

"That sounds good," said Jenny. "So what I should I do?"

"Call Raquel and tell her that you are providing your workers with paid sick days."

Jenny took her cell phone out of her purse and called Raquel. She told Raquel about the new paid sick day policy and told her to stay home. Raquel thanked her and agreed to stay home.

"Is there anything else I should do?" asked Jenny.

"We want to make paid sick days a standard for all California workplaces," said the ghost. "Please sign the petition for paid sick days for California workers and tell all your friends and family in California about the petition."

"I will," said Jenny.

Connecticut Workers Fight to Pass Paid Sick Days Legislation

In Connecticut, workers are fighting to pass paid sick days. Last week, columnist Susan Campbell of the Hartford Courtant wrote an article, "The Cost Of Not Paying For Sick Days." Ms. Campbell's article cites a restaurant owner, who provides paid sick days to his workers.

Two years after he opened Pond House Cafe in Elizabeth Park, Louis Lista realized that it made good business sense to provide benefits for his workers.

That included health insurance, 401(k)s and paid vacation, personal and sick days in an industry notorious for its paucity of employee benefits. The economy was chugging along (this was eight years ago), and though Lista says it's a little tougher now, he is firm on providing benefits, and he wonders why other restaurants don't follow his lead.

Click here to read more.

The Frog and Paid Sick Days

For the past year, Bryan had been working as a web designer at a Silicon Valley firm. Because his job had flexible hours, Bryan was able to work on his masters at San Jose State during the day. His job didn't pay a lot but Bryan liked it.

The only problem with his job was that it didn't have paid sick days. The last couple days Bryan had been sick with the flu. He had stayed home because he had felt awful.

However, he couldn't stay home any longer. If he did, he would be late on the rent. Bryan had been late twice in the past with rent. His landlord warned Bryan if he were late again, she would evict him.

Bryan stared out his bedroom window and saw a frog. The frog motioned Bryan to open the window. Bryan opened the window and let the frog come in.

"Dude, you look horrible," said the frog.

"Dude, you're a frog. You can't talk," said Bryan. "All those meds that I took are making me hallucinate."

"Dude, I used to be a prince and now I'm a frog," said the frog.

"Dude, if a hottie kisses you, will you turn back into a prince?" asked Bryan.

"Bro, that's so old school. Nobody turns into princes anymore. We're proud to be frogs and we fight for the rights of workers," said the frog.

"What kind of workers' rights?" asked Bryan.

"Dude, our top priority is paid sick days," said the frog.

"Dude, I need paid sick days," said Bryan. "I'm sick and I don't want to go work but I have to go. If I don't, I won't be able to pay my rent."

"Can't someone help you?" asked the frog.

"I've got no one," replied Bryan. "My grandmother died of breast cancer three years ago. All she left was a ton of bills because she had no health insurance. I never met my father. And my mother is somewhere in Florida. She's been in and out of rehab all of her life.

"Bro, that's why I'm here," said the frog. "I'll help you."

"How?" asked Bryan.

"Dude, clap your hands three times and say I want paid sick days."

"Dude, that's not going to work," Brian whined. "I must be dreaming, because none of this is real."

"Dude, this is not a dream. Now, just do everything I say."

Bryan nodded his head. He then clapped his hands three times and said the chant.

"Now what?" asked Bryan.

"Check out your cell phone," said the frog.

Bryan pulled out his cell phone and looked at it. He had a text from his boss. The text read,

"Effective today, we are instituting a policy in which all workers will have paid sick days. Too many of our workers are coming to work sick. When they do, they infect the other workers. This decreases our productivity and in the end, it hurts our business.

"Dude, that's great," Bryan said. "I'm going to text my boss and let her know that I'm staying home today."

Bryan then sent a text to his boss.

"Dude, I'm glad that things worked out," said the frog.

"Thank you," said Bryan. "Is there anything that I can do for you?"

"Dude, sign the petition for paid sick days for California workers," said the frog. "Tell your friends and co-workers about our petition."

"Sure," said Bryan.