I know what can happen to workers who can’t stay home and care for themselves or a loved one without losing a job.
When my daughter was 10 years old, I needed three days off from my job as a loan officer at a credit union because she was having major surgery for chronic ear infections. As a mom, I knew that a child recovers faster when she has a parent by her side. I knew that I needed to be with my daughter. But I also knew that I needed my job.
Because of my daughter’s chronic ear infections, she was often in severe pain. She suffered from high fevers, horrific rashes and bouts of vomiting. Too often, I had to leave her alone or in the care of her brother, who was only three years older and hardly the responsible adult a child deserves to have.
This time, I knew my choice was clear. I informed my supervisors. They seemed to understand my situation, though the company did not provide the opportunity to earn paid sick days.
Three days before her surgery, however, I went into work and got fired. Just three weeks earlier, my landlord had sold the property where I lived. I now had no job, no home, no money, not even food for my children. I was forced to apply for food stamps, but there was a waiting period. Friends and my former co-workers were kind enough to help.
Still, I was devastated. I loved that job and had put my whole self into it. Being fired just because I had to take care of my child left a hole in my life. It boggled the mind to think that the one time I needed time off I would get fired.
But what really gives me pause today is the knowledge that there are still so many working parents who lack paid sick days. Nearly 60 million workers in this country lack even one paid sick day a year for themselves. And there are 100 million who face the situation I faced — they don’t have a single paid sick day to care for an ill family member.
My daughter is 26 years old now. Though the surgery she had as a little girl left her with no hearing in her left ear and only partial hearing in her right, she’s a college grad and works now as a congressional aide.
I’ve moved on but I haven’t forgotten about what can happen to workers who lack paid sick days. That’s why I am so passionate about passage of the Healthy Family Act, a bill that would require companies with 15 employees or more to offer seven days of paid sick leave to their full-time workers. Part-timers would get a pro-rated number of sick days. And all employees could use the sick leave to care for an ill loved one.
For the sake of America’s working families, this country must establish a workplace standard of guaranteed paid sick days for every worker. Anything less would impose the cruelest choices on parents.
Eva Henry, a member of the Thornton, Colo., City Council, wrote this for Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues.
Email Story
Printer Friendly 
Quick Job Search
@Nyx.replyAnswerText@