EDITORIAL. By The New London Day. Published on 3/21/2009

The Day has been hesitant in the past about endorsing any law mandating that employers provide paid sick time to workers. Such one-size-fits-all requirements can burden companies with regulations that don't make sense for their business models. And the prospect of adding any additional costs to businesses during these tough economic times is reason enough to proceed cautiously.

Despite those reservations, we are convinced that the mandatory sick-time bill now before the state legislature strikes a proper balance between the needs of business and the welfare of workers, while providing a significant public health benefit.

Only businesses with 50 or more employees would be required to provide paid sick time. This protects small businesses, which often operate with narrow profit margins, from the significant cost of paying both a replacement worker and an employee who is out ill.

Sick time will be limited, accrued at the rate of one hour for every 40 hours worked, up to a maximum of 52 hours, equal to about 6 ½ days off.

Employers that provide paid vacations can use that time toward meeting their paid sick-leave requirements. For example, if a business provides workers 10 days of vacation, and a worker receives a paid sick day, it would trim the vacation time to nine days. Since the vast majority of companies with staffs of 50 or larger already provide paid vacation time, the sick-time requirement should not hurt their bottom line.

Business organizations express concern that employees will abuse sick time, but labor statistics do not back that up. While some will take advantage, records show that on average workers only use about half the sick time they qualify for and some use far less, if any.

And businesses have to consider the hidden costs when employees force themselves into work, even when sick, for fear of losing pay. A sick worker is usually not a productive one and can spread illness throughout the workforce.

Giving workers the option of staying home when they are ill, without losing pay, is also a public-health benefit. The food industry traditionally has a high percentage of workers without sick pay. When food workers come to work sick, they put the public at risk. The Connecticut Department of Public Health concludes that providing sick time to food workers could significantly reduce the spread of norovirus, often labeled as “stomach flu.”

We urge the legislature to adopt the paid sick-time bill and the governor to sign it into law.