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Everyone gets sick. The CDC estimated this past flu season was responsible for as many as 61 million illnesses, 28 million medical visits, and 770,000 hospitalizations. Yet the United States is the only industrialized, high-income country that does not guarantee paid sick days for its workers—leaving approximately 28 million workers unable to take even one day off work when they're under the weather or need to care for a sick loved one. Lack of paid sick time is an issue that impacts us all, and it's time for businesses to use our voices to advocate for the right to rest and recover.
As a brand dedicated to helping people feel better when they're sick, Theraflu—Haleon's leading cold and flu relief brand—launched the Right to Rest & Recover campaign in 2021 to raise awareness of the importance of paid sick time and provide help to workers without access to paid sick days. This year, the brand has taken the campaign a step further, partnering with national work-family legal advocacy organization, A Better Balance, to bring policy change to the forefront and call for tangible action.
Theraflu and A Better Balance are working together to continue to raise awareness about the issue and provide resources for workers. A Better Balance has worked hard to pass paid sick time policies on the state and local level, and to date, 15 states, D.C., and nearly 20 cities and counties have paid sick time laws in place. However, for the rest of the country, workers have no protections when they are sick and no right to sick leave. We need a national paid sick time law. That's why together, we have partnered to deliver a petition to members of Congress with over 10,000 signatures calling for passage of the Healthy Families Act. The Healthy Families Act would, for the first time, establish job-protected paid sick time as a right for all U.S. workers, and enable workers to earn up to seven days of paid sick time a year to address their own health needs or care for a family member.
According to Theraflu's survey conducted by Wakefield Research, nearly 70 percent of workers in the U.S. have gone to work while sick instead of taking the day off to rest and recover in the past year, and for younger workers, that number increased to 85 percent. We know that going to work while sick is bad for workers, their coworkers, families, and communities. But it's also bad for business and the economy—national access to paid sick days would result in approximately $1.1 billion in savings in hospital emergency department costs each year.
Lack of paid sick time can also be economically devastating for individuals and their families. Workers without paid sick time are more likely to struggle to afford monthly bills like groceries, rent, and utilities. And workers in the lowest paid jobs—who are disproportionately women and people of color—are far less likely to have access to paid sick time. The impossible choice between one's health and one's livelihood or financial security is a choice no individual should have to make.
Instituting a national right to paid sick time would not only save money, but the benefits for individuals and families can't be ignored. Access to paid sick time promotes public health by allowing sick workers to recover at home while curbing the spread of germs. While we saw an increased focus on sick time during the height of the COVID-19, even before that, we saw that states with paid sick time requirements saw a 40 percent decrease in influenza rates.
Paid sick time also benefits business and employee satisfaction. Research has shown that paid sick time keeps employees healthier and more satisfied with their jobs, reduces worker turnover and on-the-job accidents and injuries, and increases productivity.
We know paid sick time policies work helping workers, their families, and our economy. As business leaders, we're calling on more companies and organizations to join in the conversation and sign the petition to push for a federal paid sick leave policy. It's time to give all workers in America the right to rest and recover.
Methodological Note: The research study was sponsored by Theraflu and conducted by Wakefield Research among 1,000 nationally representative U.S. employed adults, between Oct. 5-10, 2023, using an email invitation and an online survey.
Pam Remash is marketing director at Cough Cold Flu Brand Portfolio at Haleon.
Sherry Leiwant is co-founder and co-president of A Better Balance.
The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.
