Romich Jennifer L
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2017 Jan 11;17(1):60. doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-3925-9.
Paid sick leave allows workers to take time off work for personal or family health needs, improving health and potentially limiting infectious diseases. The U.S. has no national sick leave mandate, and many American workers - particularly those at lower income levels - have no right to paid time off for their own or family members' health needs. This article reports on outcomes of a local mandate, the City of Seattle Paid Sick and Safe Time Ordinance, which requires certain employers to provide paid sick leave to eligible workers.
Survey collectors contacted a stratified random sample of Seattle employers before the Ordinance went into effect and one year later. Pre- and post- analysis draws on responses to survey items by 345 employers who were subject to the paid sick leave mandate.
Awareness of the policy and provision of paid leave grew significantly over the year after the Ordinance was enacted. More employers offered leave to full-time workers (80.8 to 93.9%, p < .001) and part-time workers (47.1 to 66.7%, p < .001) with particularly large increases in the hospitality sector, which includes food workers (coverage of any hospitality employee: 27.5 to 85.0%, p < .001).
Absent a federal policy, local paid sick time mandates can increase paid sick leave coverage, an important social determinant of health.
带薪病假使员工能够因个人或家庭健康需求而请假，改善健康状况并可能限制传染病传播。美国没有全国性的病假规定，许多美国员工——尤其是低收入水平的员工——无权因自身或家庭成员的健康需求而享受带薪休假。本文报告了一项地方规定——西雅图市带薪病假和安全时间条例——的实施结果，该条例要求某些雇主为符合条件的员工提供带薪病假。
在该条例生效前及一年后，调查人员联系了西雅图雇主的分层随机样本。前后分析基于345名受带薪病假规定约束的雇主对调查问卷项目的回复。
在该条例颁布后的一年里，对该政策的知晓度和带薪休假的提供情况显著提高。更多雇主为全职员工（从80.8%增至93.9%，p < .001）和兼职员工（从47.1%增至66.7%，p < .001）提供休假，其中酒店业的增长尤为显著，包括食品行业员工（任何酒店业员工的覆盖率：从27.5%增至85.0%，p < .001）。
在没有联邦政策的情况下，地方带薪病假规定可以提高带薪病假的覆盖率，这是健康的一个重要社会决定因素。
