Flu and illness risk higher without paid sick leave policies

For Immediate Release: Friday, Oct. 21, 2011

Contact:  Jenny Davies-Schley, 720-296-9545

Orginal article

Explained why passing Initiative 300 is a must for Denver's public health

DENVER – A retired physician, a retired minister, elders and a younger mother’s story demonstrated how a lack of paid sick days among restaurant, retail, childcare center and nursing home workers increases the risk of flu transmission and other disease. Gathered at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church Senior Center today, they explained why passing Initiative 300 would protect Denver’s elders and children ­– identified by the Centers for Disease Control as at high risk for developing flu-related complications – from contracting contagious illness (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/high_risk.htm). 

“As a retired physician, I know that the lack of paid sick leave is a public health problem – and that’s why passing Initiative 300 is so important," said Manny Salzman, M.D.  “When workers don’t have paid sick days, contagious illnesses like the flu spread through our workplaces, nursing homes, schools and communities.  I notice that the people who have been so vocal against the measure – like Governor Hickenlooper, Mayor Hancock, legislators and some councilmembers – actually have paid sick days.” 

Over the past 18 months in Denver, there were 526 cases of norovirus (stomach flu) infections in 24 outbreaks among the elderly in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.  Five of these cases led to hospitalization.  A New York study found that respiratory and gastrointestinal disease outbreak risk is significantly lower in nursing homes with paid sick days policies. (http://www.humanimpact.org/component/jdownloads/finish/17/134/0

“Elders like me are more vulnerable to the flu and other contagious diseases that start going around this time of year," said Denver resident Frank Tapy.  “Passing Initiative 300 so I know that every restaurant, grocery store and pharmacy worker I come into contact with is healthy will bring me much peace of mind.”

The flu also hits children, families and schools hard because when parents can’t afford to take unpaid leave to care for their sick children, they often have no choice but to send their children to school.  With paid sick days, parents could keep their kids home in bed where they belong – protecting the other kids in their classrooms and their families from illness, too.

Mandie Freyta, a single mom working full-time and attending graduate school, knows first-hand the financial hardship of missing pay because her four children got sick during the H1N1 flu virus outbreak. Without paid sick days at her old job, she took a week off to care for her sick kids but it took her months to catch up financially.

Influenza was responsible for 100 million lost workdays, $7 billion in lost wages and $10 billion in decreased productivity – and 80 percent of workers showed up on the job despite having flu symptoms (http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/09/21/flu-season-economic-impact-vaccine-walgreens/).   Staying home when infected by pandemic influenza could reduce the number of people impacted nationally by 15 – 34 percent. (http://www.humanimpact.org/component/jdownloads/finish/17/134/0)

The Campaign for a Healthy Denver – a coalition of more than 150 community organizations, labor groups, faith leaders and organizations, public health groups, elected officials and businesses – seeks to pass Initiative 300, the Denver ballot initiative to protect public health by guaranteeing a basic standard of paid sick days for employees in all Denver workplaces.