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Research has confirmed what many people know from experience: that paid sick days can make the workplace healthier. In 1 study, researchers found universal access to paid sick days (PSD) reduced influenza in the workplace by 6%. To drill down on the influence PSD access has on decisions to stay home from work, or to stay home with a child who has flu or influenza-like-illness, researchers from University of Pittsburgh analyzed data from the 2009 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey for 12,901 households and 12,044 employees. They chose the 2009 survey because the numbers of influenza-like-illness and influenza cases were likely to have been higher due to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
Of the workers surveyed, 64% had access to PSD. Access was associated significantly with gender, race/ethnicity, income, education, and number of employees in the workplace. In the group of 4,911 employees who had children, 68% had PSD.
The study highlighted some subgroups that face barriers to following CDC recommendations, such as staying home for up to 24 hours after symptoms subside. Hispanics, for instance, were significantly less likely to stay home when ill, but this was not necessarily an ethnic difference, the researchers say. Rather, they suggest, it may have had more to do with job security and workplace culture. They cite a survey done during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, in which Hispanics reported fewer resources at work than non-Hispanic whites, including paid sick leave, job security, and ability to work from home.
Women tend to be the main caregivers for children. In this study, women had a higher prevalence of staying home for a child’s illness than men, even after the researchers controlled for PSD access. Yet, in a different survey women also were more likely to report for work when ill, or when a child was ill. The researchers called this “presenteeism.”
The researchers underscore the importance of PSD laws in reducing the economic burden of healthy behavior in families. They note that in 2015, 35% of employees did not have access to PSD, and those employees were usually people with low income. Only 34% of those in the lowest-income group had access to PSD, compared with 89% in the highest income groups.
Source:
Piper K, Youk A, James AE, III, Kumar S. PLoS ONE. 2017;12(2): e0170698.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0170698
Research has confirmed what many people know from experience: that paid sick days can make the workplace healthier. In 1 study, researchers found universal access to paid sick days (PSD) reduced influenza in the workplace by 6%. To drill down on the influence PSD access has on decisions to stay home from work, or to stay home with a child who has flu or influenza-like-illness, researchers from University of Pittsburgh analyzed data from the 2009 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey for 12,901 households and 12,044 employees. They chose the 2009 survey because the numbers of influenza-like-illness and influenza cases were likely to have been higher due to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
Of the workers surveyed, 64% had access to PSD. Access was associated significantly with gender, race/ethnicity, income, education, and number of employees in the workplace. In the group of 4,911 employees who had children, 68% had PSD.
The study highlighted some subgroups that face barriers to following CDC recommendations, such as staying home for up to 24 hours after symptoms subside. Hispanics, for instance, were significantly less likely to stay home when ill, but this was not necessarily an ethnic difference, the researchers say. Rather, they suggest, it may have had more to do with job security and workplace culture. They cite a survey done during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, in which Hispanics reported fewer resources at work than non-Hispanic whites, including paid sick leave, job security, and ability to work from home.
Women tend to be the main caregivers for children. In this study, women had a higher prevalence of staying home for a child’s illness than men, even after the researchers controlled for PSD access. Yet, in a different survey women also were more likely to report for work when ill, or when a child was ill. The researchers called this “presenteeism.”
The researchers underscore the importance of PSD laws in reducing the economic burden of healthy behavior in families. They note that in 2015, 35% of employees did not have access to PSD, and those employees were usually people with low income. Only 34% of those in the lowest-income group had access to PSD, compared with 89% in the highest income groups.
Source:
Piper K, Youk A, James AE, III, Kumar S. PLoS ONE. 2017;12(2): e0170698.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0170698
Research has confirmed what many people know from experience: that paid sick days can make the workplace healthier. In 1 study, researchers found universal access to paid sick days (PSD) reduced influenza in the workplace by 6%. To drill down on the influence PSD access has on decisions to stay home from work, or to stay home with a child who has flu or influenza-like-illness, researchers from University of Pittsburgh analyzed data from the 2009 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey for 12,901 households and 12,044 employees. They chose the 2009 survey because the numbers of influenza-like-illness and influenza cases were likely to have been higher due to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
Of the workers surveyed, 64% had access to PSD. Access was associated significantly with gender, race/ethnicity, income, education, and number of employees in the workplace. In the group of 4,911 employees who had children, 68% had PSD.
The study highlighted some subgroups that face barriers to following CDC recommendations, such as staying home for up to 24 hours after symptoms subside. Hispanics, for instance, were significantly less likely to stay home when ill, but this was not necessarily an ethnic difference, the researchers say. Rather, they suggest, it may have had more to do with job security and workplace culture. They cite a survey done during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, in which Hispanics reported fewer resources at work than non-Hispanic whites, including paid sick leave, job security, and ability to work from home.
Women tend to be the main caregivers for children. In this study, women had a higher prevalence of staying home for a child’s illness than men, even after the researchers controlled for PSD access. Yet, in a different survey women also were more likely to report for work when ill, or when a child was ill. The researchers called this “presenteeism.”
The researchers underscore the importance of PSD laws in reducing the economic burden of healthy behavior in families. They note that in 2015, 35% of employees did not have access to PSD, and those employees were usually people with low income. Only 34% of those in the lowest-income group had access to PSD, compared with 89% in the highest income groups.
Source:
Piper K, Youk A, James AE, III, Kumar S. PLoS ONE. 2017;12(2): e0170698.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0170698