Media Tools for Healthy Workplace: Paid Sick Days Now!

9to5 brings women together to speak-out on the issues important to us. 

If you're interested in speaking-out -- by authoring letters to the editor about paid sick days -- we've created a Tip Sheet just for you. It will help you more effectlively respond to newspaper stories, op-eds and other letters to the editor about the need for paid sick days as a basic labor standard.

Feel free to "adapt" as you like and in ways that suit your own personal story. Click here, to see a great letter to the editor by Erin Bennett, 9to5 Organizer.

Or, if you'd like help with your letters, contact Rosemary at (303) 628-0925 or rosemaryh [at] 9to5 [dot] org. 

Letters to the editor …

• should begin with “To the Editor” so there is no mistaking your intention.
• should be short, smart, persuasive and always 200 words or less.
• should be hooked to a news story, opinion piece, or letter you saw in the same publication.
• should refer to the item with the headline, writer’s name and date of publication.
• should be a combination of facts backed up by sound arguments. Feel free to reference credible sources beyond your own opinion, including studies, statistics, reports, other publications or merely words of wisdom.
• should be spell-checked, preferably by you and someone else. 
• should include all your personal info at the end: name, address, phone, cell phone, email address. If you have a title that is relevant to the topic of the letter, include it. That makes you a more credible source.

I’m a working parent and I know that every cent of my paycheck counts when it comes to making ends meet for my family. I know that parents sometimes have to make tough choices: between losing income and staying home to care for a child when she gets sick. I know parents are often forced to send their children to school sick – because they lack paid sick days.

I know … because I’ve been there.

That’s why I think paid sick days should be a basic labor standard, like child labor laws and the minimum wage.  

We live in a country that values families. As a parent, I know that we must also value families at work.

Sample Community Voice LTE

With predictions of a tough flu season on the way everywhere you look, it's hard not to think about how the shortcomings in workplace policy contribute to the spread of disease – from worker to worker, student to student, person to person.

Our public health infrastructure, while expansive, cannot account for all the inadequacies in this country’s workplace policies; policies that make it nearly impossible for 60 million workers in this country to take time off when they’re sick.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommend that those who think they have the flu stay home from work or school and see a doctor. But the fact is that too many workers in this country lack a single paid sick day. They simply cannot afford to stay home when they’re sick without the loss of wages or even the loss of a job.

This is a predicament for them and their families. But – given the bad news about how severe flu season will be – it’s also a serious health risk for all of us.

Sample Working Woman LTE

All the public service announcements keep repeating this advice about the brutal flu season that is approaching: “Stay home when you're sick, Stay home when you’re sick.” But saying it is not enough to prevent disease from spreading.

This is a public health issue that directly affects all of us and our loved ones. Many workers in industries that require constant contact with the public -- including 86 percent of all workers in the food, child care, nursing and retail industries – lack paid sick days.  

Giving workers time off when we’re sick – without penalizing our pay -- would help all of us stay well.

Sample Working Woman LTE 2

When workers have access to paid sick day, it allows them to stay home to recuperate or care for sick children who would otherwise be sent to school or daycare. That’s why paid sick days are such a common sense approach to protecting the public's health.

Employers should offer workers the opportunity to earn a reasonable number of paid sick days each year. And, since so many workers are baby boomers like me, we should have paid sick days that allow us to care for our sick children or our ailing parents.

But, because ALL workers must have paid sick days, we cannot wait on business to do the right thing. We must have federal paid sick days legislation NOW that guarantees the ability to earn paid sick days to every worker in this country.

Sample Chapter Board Leader LTE

When I think about the threats of a particularly dangerous and deadly flu season approaching, I think about one thing: the pending federal legislation that would allow every worker the chance to earn up to seven paid sick days a year.

Paid sick days is a basic labor standard that has remained elusive for 60 million workers in this country. And 100 million workers don’t have a paid sick day to care for a sick child. This is why paid sick days are especially critical for working women. Women have responsibilities at work and at home. They must have time for both.

This isn't just unfair. This is a matter of economic justice for working women and low-wage working women in particular. Without the ability to take care of ourselves and our families – while still maintaining our wages and jobs – we will never be able to survive the tough economic days that are yet ahead.

Sample Business Owner LTE

The "Healthy Families Act" would allow workers to earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to a total of 7 days each year.  And, it also offers time-off protections for victims of domestic violence. I believe it is a good thing that small business owners like me help shape – and encourage Congress to pass – this federal policy.

I know from my own experiences, from the way that my employees perform and produce, that paid sick days are good for my business. I know they are good for my employees because they work more efficiently when they know they can balance the responsibilities of they have at home with those they have at work. And, I know – like the bill’s sponsor, the late Senator Kennedy knew – that paid sick days are good for our struggling economy and will help us all weather the economic storms ahead.

Sample Letter ... A mother who has paid sick days

As the debate rages about health care, I realize that I am one of the fortunate ones. I am a low-wage worker but I work for a (insert your employer here) and I get paid sick days.

This became more important to me when I got that phone call that every parent dreads: a call from my child’s school saying that (she/he) was sick and I needed to come immediately. I was able to leave work right away and I didn’t lose any pay. When I returned, I wasn’t afraid that I would be given a pink slip. I took that time off work without penalty.

It’s not like that in every company. I have a (friend, relative, acquaintance) who is one of the nearly 60 million people in this country who lack paid sick days. If the same thing happened, it might turn out differently for (her, him). It would be different for lots of working parents.

It’s hard for me to believe that 145 countries around the world guarantee paid sick days but the United States doesn’t. What’s holding us back? We must ensure now that being sick is not a good enough reason to lose your job.