Posted on 11/11/2009 3:49:51 PM PST by reaganaut1
The H1N1 pandemic is raising concerns about people reporting to work sick and spreading the disease. The pandemic has given momentum to Congressional efforts to enact legislation that would guarantee paid sick days to tens of millions of workers — although it is far from clear that such legislation will be enacted. Those legislative efforts received added momentum on Tuesday when the Obama administration backed the Healthy Families Act, which would guarantee seven sick days a year to workers in companies with 15 or more employees.
In testifying before the Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee’s Subcommittee on Children and Families, Deputy Labor Secretary Seth Harris, said,
The Healthy Families Act offers an important opportunity to provide workers with economic security by assuring that they have the ability to stay home if they are sick without fear of losing their jobs or being forced to go to work sick because they cannot afford to stay home.
Mr. Harris noted that the Bureau of Labor Statistics has found that 39 percent of American workers do not receive paid sick days.
Last May, the Healthy Families Act was introduced in the Senate by Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat, and in the House by Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat. The bill has more than 110 sponsors in the House. In the Senate, Christopher J. Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat, has become the bill’s chief sponsor, and it has more than 20 sponsors.
Last week, Representative George Miller, the California Democrat who is chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, introduced an emergency bill that would guarantee five paid sick days to employees at businesses with 15 or more workers who are directed to stay home by management because they have or are believed to have H1N1 or another communicable disease.
(Excerpt) Read more at economix.blogs.nytimes.com ...
I foresee a lot of companies cutting a week off of the paid time off they already offer their employees.
Most companies of any size offer some amount of paid time off. I don’t think this is a very big deal, except for the fact it is the individual business that should decide this, not the government.
Is 10.2% just too low for the ONE?
Stopped reading right there. No offense to you, just commenting on something I noticed. I'll read the comments for a more realistic take than the one offered from the NYT.
Great. Just what employers need during a recession. This is just another attack on private industry.
Dems are going to push everything they can between now and next November. Internally, they must know the slap-down they are getting at the next election.
More insurance for their ‘jobless recovery’ or are they seeking more unemployed to crawl to government’s teat?
There’s already been response here by local business as to layoffs and/or not hiring.
How many included in that 39% do you think are part-time employees? How many work for Wendy’s, McDonald’s, whatever? How much do you think a Wendy’s hamburger will go up if this is passed? Or a McDonald’s Happy Meal? Maybe that $1.00 sandwich will now cost $5.95.
These people want this to happen. It’s not that they’re clueless. The more they grind the economy into the ground, the more reason to take over various parts under government control.
Apparently.
The Healthy Families Act offers an important opportunity to provide workers with economic security by assuring that they have the ability to stay home since they will be losing their jobs.
There, thats more accurate.
Seriously? Yes it is. If unemployment were around 15% for an extended period of time, more Americans would support a more government-dependent life style. Government health care, comes to mind.
This bill is just another dagger in the back of small busiensses. Paid sick leave is a good benefit. I think that most larger employers offer the benefit. Small employers can offer the benefit also. However, they may need to reduce compensation to offer the benefit. Do you prefer the benefit with reduced compensation or no benefit with higher compensation? If the policy becomes too much of a burden, the small business can just close. Who needs so many small businesses anyway? Small businesses do not pay livable wages and exploit their endentured workers in the most pathetic ways. Let government fill the need!
Why only a week?
Let’s make it a month or more.
Don’t be a cheapskate Baraq.
LLS
Make labor dear and you use less of it.
Representative George Miller, the California Democrat who is chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee is a Marxist and member of the “Congressional Progressive Caucus” a group founded by admitted socialist Bernie Sanders.
Don’t expect to read about that in the NYT.
The following members of Congress are Marxists who have rebranded themselves as “Progressives” in an attempt to hide their agenda
Nancy Pelosi was one of the original members and only left when she was named Minority Leader.
She is now Speaker of the House and 2 heartbeats away from President of the United States.
All members are members of the Democratic Party or caucus with the Democratic Party. There are currently 82 total declared Progressives including 79 voting Representatives, 2 non-voting Delegates, and 1 Senator.
[edit] Arizona
The “Congressional Progressive Caucus”:
* Ed Pastor (AZ-4, Phoenix)
* Raúl Grijalva (AZ-7, Tucson) - Co-Chair
[edit] California
* Lynn Woolsey (CA-6, Santa Rosa) - Co-Chair
* George Miller (CA-7, Richmond) - Chairman, House Education and Labor Committee
* Barbara Lee (CA-9, Oakland) - Chairwoman, Congressional Black Caucus
* Pete Stark (CA-13, Fremont)
* Michael Honda (CA-15, San Jose)
* Sam Farr (CA-17, Monterey)
* Henry Waxman (CA-30, Los Angeles) - Chairman, House Energy and Commerce Committee
* Xavier Becerra (CA-31, Los Angeles)
* Judy Chu (CA-32, El Monte)
* Diane Watson (CA-33, Los Angeles)
* Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34, Los Angeles)
* Maxine Waters (CA-35, Inglewood)
* Laura Richardson (CA-37, Long Beach)
* Linda Sanchez (CA-39, Lakewood)
* Bob Filner (CA-51, San Diego) - Chairman, House Veterans Affairs Committee
[edit] Colorado
* Jared Polis (CO-02, Boulder)
[edit] Connecticut
* Rosa DeLauro (CT-3, New Haven)
[edit] Florida
* Corrine Brown (FL-3, Jacksonville)
* Alan Grayson (FL-8, Orlando)
* Robert Wexler (FL-19, Boca Raton)
* Alcee Hastings (FL-23, Fort Lauderdale)
[edit] Georgia
* Hank Johnson (GA-4, Lithonia)
* John Lewis (GA-5, Atlanta)
[edit] Hawaii
* Neil Abercrombie (HI-1, Honolulu)
* Mazie Hirono (HI-2, Honolulu)
[edit] Illinois
* Bobby Rush (IL-1, Chicago)
* Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL-2, Chicago Heights)
* Luis Gutierrez (IL-4, Chicago)
* Danny Davis (IL-7, Chicago)
* Jan Schakowsky (IL-9, Chicago)
* Phil Hare (IL-17, Rock Island)
[edit] Indiana
* André Carson (IN-7, Indianapolis)
[edit] Iowa
* Dave Loebsack (IA-2, Cedar Rapids)
[edit] Maine
* Chellie Pingree (ME-1, North Haven)
[edit] Maryland
* Donna Edwards (MD-4, Fort Washington)
* Elijah Cummings (MD-7, Baltimore)
[edit] Massachusetts
* John Olver (MA-1, Amherst)
* Jim McGovern (MA-3, Worcester)
* Barney Frank (MA-4, Newton) - Chairman, House Financial Services Committee
* John Tierney (MA-6, Salem)
* Ed Markey (MA-7, Malden)
* Mike Capuano (MA-8, Boston)
[edit] Michigan
* Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (MI-13, Detroit)
* John Conyers (MI-14, Detroit) - Chairman, House Judiciary Committee
[edit] Minnesota
* Keith Ellison (MN-5, Minneapolis)
[edit] Mississippi
* Bennie Thompson (MS-2, Bolton) - Chairman, House Homeland Security Committee
[edit] Missouri
* William Lacy Clay, Jr. (MO-1, St. Louis)
* Emanuel Cleaver (MO-5, Kansas City)
[edit] New Jersey
* Frank Pallone (NJ-06)
* Donald Payne (NJ-10, Newark)
[edit] New Mexico
* Ben R. Luján (NM-3, Santa Fe)
[edit] New York
* Jerry Nadler (NY-8, Manhattan)
* Yvette Clarke (NY-11, Brooklyn)
* Nydia Velazquez (NY-12, Brooklyn) - Chairwoman, House Small Business Committee
* Carolyn Maloney (NY-14, Manhattan)
* Charles Rangel (NY-15, Harlem) - Chairman, House Ways and Means Committee
* Jose Serrano (NY-16, Bronx)
* John Hall (NY-19, Dover Plains)
* Maurice Hinchey (NY-22, Saugerties)
* Louise Slaughter (NY-28, Rochester) - Chairwoman, House Rules Committee
* Eric Massa (NY-29, Corning)
[edit] North Carolina
* Mel Watt (NC-12, Charlotte)
[edit] Ohio
* Marcy Kaptur (OH-9, Toledo)
* Dennis Kucinich (OH-10, Cleveland)
* Marcia Fudge (OH-11, Warrensville Heights)
[edit] Oregon
* Earl Blumenauer (OR-3, Portland)
* Peter DeFazio (OR-4, Eugene)
[edit] Pennsylvania
* Bob Brady (PA-1, Philadelphia) - Chairman, House Administration Committee
* Chaka Fattah (PA-2, Philadelphia)
[edit] Tennessee
* Steve Cohen (TN-9, Memphis)
[edit] Texas
* Sheila Jackson-Lee (TX-18, Houston)
* Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30, Dallas)
[edit] Virginia
* Jim Moran (VA-8, Alexandria)
[edit] Vermont
* Peter Welch (VT-At Large)
[edit] Washington
* Jim McDermott (WA-7, Seattle)
[edit] Wisconsin
* Tammy Baldwin (WI-2, Madison)
* Gwen Moore (WI-4, Milwaukee)
[edit] Non-voting
* Donna M. Christensen (Virgin Islands)
* Eleanor Holmes Norton (District of Columbia)
[edit] Senate member
* Bernie Sanders (Vermont)
[edit] Former members
* Sherrod Brown (OH-13) - Elected to Senate
* Julia Carson (IN-07) - Died in December 2007
* Lane Evans (IL-17) - Retired from Congress
* Cynthia McKinney (GA-4) - Lost Congressional seat to current caucus member Hank Johnson
* Major Owens (NY-11) - Retired from Congress
* Nancy Pelosi (CA-8) - Left Caucus when Elected House Minority Leader
* Hilda Solis (CA-32) - Became Secretary of Labor in 2009
* Stephanie Tubbs Jones (OH-11) - Died in 2008
* Tom Udall (NM Senate)
* Paul Wellstone (MN Senate) - Died in plane crash in 2002
The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) was established in 1991 by five members of the United States House of Representatives: Representatives Ron Dellums (D-CA), Lane Evans (D-IL), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Then-Representative Bernie Sanders was the convener and first. The founding members were concerned about the economic hardship imposed by the deepening recession, the growing inequality brought about by the timidity of the Democratic Party response at the time.
Additional House representatives joined soon, including Major Owens (D-NY), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), David Bonior (D-MI), Bob Filner (D-CA), Barney Frank (D-MA), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Patsy Mink (D-HI), George Miller (D-CA), Pete Stark (D-CA), John Olver (D-MA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
A lot of companies who hire such people will respond by simply firing anyone who gets sick.
Most of the companies without paid sick leave are those who hire the least skilled and the most likely to abuse sick leave. They’re the last ones that need their employment opportunities cut back—and that’s certain to be the result of such government meddling.
...more like Europe all the time.......
Very true! I’ve worked for employers like that.
That being said, it should be up to the individual employer to decide.
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