I guess I don’t understand this. Every company I have ever worked for provided sick leave. What am I missing?
Consider yourself lucky. There are tons of small businesses employing low skilled workers who provide no paid time off. Do you think the guy at the 7-11 who isn't a manager gets paid for being sick? No way.
I don't blame these businesses. The margins are tiny and the abuse would be rampant.
You've lived a sheltered life, evidently. A lot of jobs don't come with paid sick days -- think low-skilled hourly jobs for example. Nor should they, necessarily.
Think about it, if you run a farm, the cows don't get milked if you "call in" sick. If you're an independent plumber, you don't make an income if you stay home. The principle's the same for any business.
That some offer "sick" days is great; a result of competition for labor. But it's no business of the government (or shouldn't be).
Ive only had one job, that had paid sick time. Most factory jobs don’t have sick time. You use vacation time for sick days, and hopefully you don’t get sick much your first year without vacation.