Channeling my high school self

[chargirlgenius]

Whereas, the powers that be are encouraging sick people to stay home from work or school when they’re sick, and
Whereas the United States has the paltriest sick and maternity leaves among all industrialized nations, and
Whereas individuals will come to work sick because they will either lose pay or vacation time when it is combined, and
Whereas companies will not voluntarily offer better sick and maternity leaves without it being legally mandated, and
Whereas a legal mandate will put American companies on an even playing field with one another, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that Congress should get their collective heads out of their asses and pass legislation that
1. Requires employers that have a minimum of 10 employees to offer at least 15 paid sick leave to employees.
2. Requires the aforementioned employers to separate sick time from vacation time.
3. Requires the aforementioned employers to provide at least three months paid maternity leave.

Comments

[dawnhutchings.livejournal.com]

I agree completely with you. I'm so tired of sick time and vacation time being one time. It's so stupid.

[greta-k.livejournal.com]

When and where are you running for office, and can I vote for you and your proposed policies? :-)

[duchesspadr.livejournal.com]

AGREED!

[mare-in-flames.livejournal.com]

"So let it be written, so let it be done."

[baronessadriana.livejournal.com]

Amen.

[marionred.livejournal.com]

Agreed also!

[kitlizzy.livejournal.com]

Yes please!

(Seriously, who can we write to to get this proposed?)

[alyclepal.livejournal.com]

It sounds like a great idea---short and simple. I'd like to think something like that could work.

That being said to offer these things would potentially break our small business...especially since when folks lay out of work (sometimes sick, sometimes not) other people have to work double to cover for them and get the paper out. Each person has a specific job to do in the process. It's all the family can do to continue offering health coverage, the cost of which keeps doubling each year----if folks want additional perks then some folks are going to have to be let go (and to avoid that the folks at the top of the business were the first to take cuts already). If folks are getting additional paid days off where is the money going to come from to pay for their replacements? In a large corporation this may be easier to sweep under the rug but if you're running a business with 10-49 employees things are tight and the margins for slush nonexistent right now. The government is already very unfriendly to small businesses and I think there's some misconception of business owners as rolling in cash or something. Additionally, how to you determine sick days from vacation days? There will always be people who will burn sick days so as not to take away from their vacation time. Also, small companies are exempt from the Family Leave Act already - it puts undue strain on them and honestly, paying for 3 months maternity leave would place a lot of strain on small companies for something that is ultimately not their fault or their problem. There are consequences to every decision we make, and choosing to be a mother has consequences if you choose to work outside the home that affect not only the family but the employer. A worker has to be brought in and trained to replace the person on maternity leave so where does that money come from? There are a lot of difficult questions that would need to be answered before these ideas would be realistic without running the businesses that make up the backbone of our economy into the ground further.

[reabhecc.livejournal.com]

Hear Hear!

(wait, you mean some places accrue sick and vacation as the same thing?)

[smiep.livejournal.com]

So say we all!

[odettedamboise.livejournal.com]

Have you forwarded this to Stenny Hoyer? He is your Representative and fairly well positioned currently (as the House Majority Leader). :-)

Didn't they tell us in School House Rock that is how you get a law?

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

2. Requires...employers to separate sick time from vacation time.

Would this be a bad time to point out that my employer already does that?

I feel for the rest of you folks; PTO is Teh SuXX0r :-P

[findlaech.livejournal.com]

While generally a pretty stingy outfit, my employer is surprisingly enlightened when it comes to sick leave. We have no annual caps per se; it is up to the individual's manager to determine if sick leave is being used appropriately/abused. More than 5 continuous days and the employee has to go on short term disablity and have a doctor's note. Seems to work pretty well, and I can tell people to stay home when they are sick.

[beatrixherald.livejournal.com]

I agree with your sentiment, but I think your suggestions are not enough.

I like the Idea of combined sick and personal leave, but NOT vacation. If I am going to the DR. is it sick time or personal leave? Sometimes there is not the distinction there. But vacation is vacation. Time off to rest, relax, and recoup motivation and de-stress.

However I DO think that Maternity leave should be taken from vacation and/or sick time and then taken un-paid. Having a baby is a choice in this era. there are more than enough ways to plan a pregnancy that anyone who has a baby (excepting the 1%-3% who get prego on the pill) has made a choice to have sex with the chance of getting pregnant. I would encourage the Government to support maternity leave, sort of like un-employment or disability.

See my post for more opinions on this topic... I was getting long winded.