Working sick

It hit Jess, one of our nannies, first, about ten days ago. Sore throat, stuffy nose, aches, the works. She couldn’t come to work that day. The Leo, our 3.5 year old got it. Then our one-year-old daughter, Anya. It caught me last Friday and I spent much of the weekend wincing from throbbing sinus pain. Last night I got a call from our other nanny, Ashleigh. The bug had bitten her, and she can’t come to work today.

Like any other family with two working parents, that means we’re scrambling. My parents, who can sometimes pinch hit, aren’t available today. I’m at my desk now for several hours while my husband is with the kids. Then he’ll go to work. I’ll stay in touch with my office as best I can by phone and cell. I’m already plotting about the best strategy for both kids to nap at the same time this afternoon so I can work then, too.

Although my husband and are going to have a challenging day, we still have it far better than most. He is a federal government attorney, and providing he gets his work done somehow some way, the office is quite flexible about family needs. I work from home for Washington, DC-based public interest groups that, deadlines permitting, are also quite understanding. But according to 9to5, an organization working for family-work balance, three out of four low wage workers have no paid sick leave.That means that when a bug strikes, they lose much needed income.

In Congress, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) has a bill, H.R. 1542, that would require employers of more than 15 people to provide a limited amount of paid sick leave. Eligible employees would be those who work at least 1,000 hours per year. It has 89 cospsonors, but not a single one hails from Colorado.

In the Senate, the companion bill, S.910, sponsored by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) in the Senate, has 24 cosponsors, including Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL), but not Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). But again, no cosponsors from Colorado.

The bills aren’t exactly on a fast track. Both were introduced in 2007 and have sat in committees ever since. I’d like to say I’m shocked, but we all know that bills like these don’t tend to capture the interest of Congress. That’s because the people who would benefit don’t have the cash to give campaign contributions, nor do they have millions to spend on lobbying campaigns.

My husband and I aren’t required to, but we do pay our nannies—who are both college students, paying their own way—when they call in sick. It’s painful for our pocket book, to be sure, but we figure we get paid when we’re sick, so they should too.

[crossposted at Muckraking Mom]

Bookmark/Search this post with: