Social Work Commons^™

Workers Without Paid Sick Leave Less Likely To Take Time Off For Illness Or Injury Compared To Those With Paid Sick Leave, Leaanne Derigne, Patricia A. Stoddard Dare, Linda M. Quinn

Social Work Faculty Publications

Paid sick leave is an important employer-provided benefit that helps people obtain health care for themselves and their dependents. But paid sick leave is not universally available to US workers. Little is known about paid sick leave and its relationship to health behaviors. Contrary to public health goals to reduce the spread of illness, our findings indicate that in 2013 both full- and part-time working adults without paid sick leave were more likely than workers with that benefit to attend work when ill. Those without paid sick leave were 3.0 times more likely to forgo medical care for themselves and …