Paid Sick Leave: Avoiding Contagious Presenteeism and Preventing Influenza

The US of A is the ONLY industrialized country without nationwide access to paid sick leave. Reread that sentence several times to let it sink in, it's OK, I'll wait for you. Opponents of paid sick leave say that mandatory sick leave increases the cost of labor and hurts job creation. In addition, they suggest  that paid leaving increases shirking behavior and "noncontagious absenteeism". However, there are potential economic benefits for paid leave, particularly in regards to encouraging workers to not work when they've acquired an infectious disease - "contagious presenteeism."

Before wider adoption of mandatory paid sick leave in the US, it is likely that the health and economic value of such mandates will need to be estimated. To that end, economists Stefan Pichler and Nicolas Ziebarth have just published an unreviewed working paper in the National Bureau of Economic Research, that sought to estimate the impact of paid sick leave on labor supply and avoiding presenteeism as manifest through reduced influenza cases. They were able to take advantage of the staggered implementation of several city (San Francisco, Washington DC, Seattle, Philly, Portland and New York City) and state (CT, CA, MA, OR) sick leave mandates in order to determine the reduction in population-level influenza-like illness (ILI) cases using Google Flu data (2003-2015). Other cities, and states not covered by the mandates served as controls. 

When they examined the impact of the mandates using city-level data and difference-in-differences models, they found that gaining access to paid sick leave resulted in a 5.5% reduction in ILI per 100,000 doctors visits. When analyzed using state-level data, they found a 2.5% reduction in ILI after adoption of mandatory sick pay. Importantly, the authors state that "infections rates may further decrease in the medium to long-run when employees have accrued larger amounts of paid sick days." The paper then takes a deep dive into the underlying behavioral mechanisms of these programs (contagious presenteeism and noncontagious absenteeism) and the positive and negative aspects of mandatory sick leave using US and German data, which makes for interesting reading if you have time. 

The findings of this paper suggest an important population-level benefit for mandatory sick leave policies, which suggests the US should consider passing a bill to make such a policy nationwide. In fact, President Obama said this during his 2015 State of the Union Address: “Send me a bill that gives every worker in America the opportunity to earn seven days of paid sick leave. It’s the right thing to do. It’s the right thing to do.” I'm thinking more mandatory sick leave and less influenza would make America a wee bit greater.

Image Source: nyc.gov

A Living Wage and Paid Sick Leave are Infection Control Issues

We've written often about presenteeism, workers staying on the job while they are sick, and have mentioned paid sick leave as a mechanism for keeping sick healthcare workers at home. A few years ago, New York City mandated a minimum of 5 days paid sick leave for all companies with over 20 workers, yet few other cities or states have similar regulations. While most presenteeism discussions focus on workers in specific workplaces, little attention has been paid to home healthcare providers. These individuals face significant time and financial pressures to work while sick, as evidenced by a recent Guardian article examining issues facing working mothers in Denver.

In the first of an election year series of discussion groups, The Guardian asked five working mothers, including three home healthcare workers, about the many barriers they face caring and providing for their families. Several quotes from the article are particularly relevant to discussions of presenteeism and infection prevention:

"As the women discussed, they’re paid less than male colleagues, they often struggle to find reliable childcare, they lack medical leave and they rarely even get paid time off"

"I mean, I cannot miss a day of work, because I have to pay rent."

"they [home healthcare companies] don’t give you benefits, they don’t give gas [money], they don’t pay for my mileage, and you take care of all these sick people in their homes. And then when you get home with this low paycheck, again, you’re struggling. The money’s not enough for us to take care of our family. No vacation, no sick pay, no benefits."

"All the women who were home healthcare aides lacked paid medical leave, which can leave both them and their clients vulnerable." 

"When I go into people’s homes, I need to be well. I take care of people with Aids, I take care of people with cancer. They don’t need to get pneumonia from me. So it’s not just about me as a home care worker, it’s about raising the standard of home care not only for myself, but for the people I take care of."

"I was sick last year with Type A flu virus. I couldn’t take one day, and they told me to wear a mask on my face to go to my client. She’s 84."

Much attention has been paid to social determinants of health and how social and economics factors are associated with poor individual and community health. What is clear from this discussion group is that social determinants of health impact infection control through presenteeism and that no one, not even the wealthy, are protected from infections (e.g. influenza) transmitted in the community by home healthcare workers who have to work while sick to provide for their families.  A living wage and paid sick leave for all workers are critically needed for infection prevention and for many other reasons, as outlined in this excellent, well-timed, discussion group.