Paid Sick Leave Lowers Costs

An Upshot column “The High Costs of Not Offering Paid Sick Leave” argues that employees and their co-workers may be better off with an incentive to take time off when sick. About 45 percent of the American work force does not have paid sick leave; that’s about 50 million workers. Families with less ability to afford unpaid time off are more likely to lack paid sick leave. According to a study in Health Affairs, 65 percent of families with incomes below $35,000 had no paid sick leave, while the same was true of only 25 percent of families with annual incomes above $100,000. Those without sick leave were farm ore likely to go to work sick (“presenteeism”), as well as to forgo seeking medical care for themselves or for an ill family member. Although expanding health insurance helps people pay for health care, it does nothing to help them afford to take time off to get it.

Another study in Health Services Research by a Cornell economist supports the theory that paid sick leave could reduce the spread of contagion. This study found that each week, up to 3 million U.S. employees go to work sick. Females, low-income earners, and those aged 25 to 34 years have a significantly elevated risk of presenteeism behavior.

The Upshot column presents the benefits of paid sick leave for one illness, flu, although morbidity and mortality from other contagious conditions would also be reduced:

Paid sick leave slows the spread of disease. Cities and states that require employers to offer paid sick leave — Washington, D.C.; Seattle; New York City; and Philadelphia, as well as Connecticut, California, Massachusetts and Oregon — have fewer cases of seasonal flu than other comparable cities and states. Flu rates would fall 5 percent if paid sick leave were universal. According to one estimate, an additional seven million people contracted the H1N1 flu virus in 2009 because employees came to work while infected. The illnesses led to 1,500 additional deaths.

Beyond reducing flu deaths, paid sick leave is associated with

• reduced rates of occupational injuries
• reduced rates of heart attacks
• enhanced productivity
• reduced rates of employee turnover
• increased rates of breastfeeding and preventive health care for children of workers

Though a few cities and states mentioned above mandate employers provide paid sick leave, the Family and Medical Leave Act requires only unpaid sick leave be provided by employers with more than 50 workers. A new Obama administration rule is extending paid sick leave to ~300,000 private-sector employees working on government contracts starting on Jan. 1.  Policy makers should consider the potential public health implications of their decisions when contemplating guaranteed sick leave benefits.