Quick Facts

Need a quick primer on paid sick days? Let us break it down for you.

The Urgent Need for Paid Sick Days

Nearly four in 10 private sector workers — and more than 80 percent of low-wage workers — do not have paid sick days to care for their own health. That means that at least 43 million workers have no access to paid sick days at all, and millions more cannot earn paid sick time they can use to care for a sick child or family member.
On the state level, the percentage of workers without paid sick days varies widely from a high of 49.7 percent in New Mexico to a low of 38.9 percent in New Hampshire, according to an analysis of the 42 states that have not adopted any state or municipal paid sick days laws.
Workers without paid sick days are 1.5 times more likely than those with paid sick days to report going to work with contagious illnesses like the flu or a viral infection — and risk infecting others. More than three in four food service and hotel workers (78 percent) don’t have a single paid sick day — and workers in child care centers and nursing homes overwhelmingly lack paid sick days. The threat to public health is clear.
More than a third (37 percent) of working women — more than 13 million — in businesses with 15 or more employees are not able to take a paid sick day when they or a family member are ill.
Nearly half (49 percent) of all Latino workers employed by businesses with 15 or more employees — the businesses that would be covered by the Healthy Families Act — have no access to paid sick days.
Nearly 44 percent of African American workers — seven million — have no access to paid sick days.

The Benefits of Paid Sick Days

Access to paid sick days reduces the spread of the flu in the workplace by nearly six percent. Allowing workers to stay at home with even one paid “flu day” would allow them to recover and could reduce flu transmission by 25 percent. Two “flu days” could result in a nearly 40 percent decrease.
Paid sick days save employers money by reducing turnover. The cost of replacing workers, including advertising positions, interviewing, and training replacements, are often greater than the cost of providing paid sick time to retain existing workers.
If workers were offered seven paid sick days a year, our national economy would experience a net savings of $160 billion a year due to increased productivity and reduced turnover.
Paid sick and safe days would protect the paychecks and jobs of victims of domestic violence, stalking or sexual assault when they need it most: when they need time off of work to seek assistance.
Paid sick days help family caregivers manage both their caregiving responsibilities and the jobs they need to support their families. Sixty-six million American adults are unpaid caregivers for family members or friends — and the number is growing.

The U.S. Public Strongly Supports Paid Sick Days

According to a 2015 survey, 88 percent of voters say they want all workers to be able to earn paid sick days to care for themselves and their family members.