Colorado Chapter News

Blog post by Mamas on Bedrest

Denver Colorado is poised to be the 4th US City to provide paid sick leave to its employees. Currently, Seattle, San Francisco and Washington, DC all have laws guaranteeing workers a certain of number of paid sick days-days which workers can take due to their own illness or to care for a sick relative. Connecticut is the only state with a law that guarantees paid sick leave for its employees.

When women do better, families do better. As the first woman elected to Congress from Colorado and a chief sponsor of the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act who spent nearly 25 years serving the people of Denver and Colorado’s 1st District, I know that well. That’s why it is so appalling that nearly 46,000 women workers in Denver don’t have a single paid sick day.

By Sara Gagliardi, LPN

Posted October 11, 2011

As an oncology nurse, I know firsthand why paid sick days are needed. It is my responsibility to care for cancer patients fighting to regain or stabilize their health. Many are immuno-compromised due to chemotherapy and radiation, so the last thing they need is to be exposed to a contagious disease. Unfortunately, a lack of paid sick days among employees working with the public every day puts them – and all of us – at risk.

A mandatory sick-day requirement for Denver businesses would result in a net annual savings of $1.4 million for employers and an annual reduction in Denver health care costs of $2.6 million, according to a new analysis by the Institute  for Wo men's Policy Research, a Washington group that favors the sick-leave requirement.