Bill may guarantee paid sick days for flu

TEXT OF STORY

Steve Chiotakis: In an obvious attempt to slow the spreading of the flu, this morning a Senate committee is holding a hearing on a bill that would guarantee paid sick days for people affected by the regular strain or by H1N1. The House is already looking at similar legislation. Marketplace’s Nancy Marshall Genzer reports.

Nancy Marshall Genzer: A lot of workers just get a lump of days off. Period. They can use them either as sick or vacation days. Of course, no one wants to burn a vacation day, so you go to work sick. That’s a problem if you have swine flu.

The bill being considered at today’s hearing is in response to the swine flu pandemic. Backers of the House bill say it would protect about 50 million workers with no sick leave. Many of them work in low-wage food service and hospitality jobs, where they can make other people sick. The bill would cover workers in businesses with 15 or more employees.

The National Small Business Association says the legislation could hurt small businesses.

In Washington, I’m Nancy Marshall Genzer for Marketplace.