Should Companies Be Required To Provide Workers Paid Sick Leave?--The Debate
What’s the biggest debate in the corporate world these days? It’s whether or not companies should be required to provide workers paid sick leave.
Connecticut recently became the first state to make it a law, and states everywhere are considering hopping on the paid sick leave bandwagon. But economists warn that forcing businesses to pay workers to stay home when they’re sick could cause massive layoffs, and even business shutdowns.
Supporters say that paid time off has never been more important because surveys show that a record number of people are going to work while they’re sick because they can’t afford to stay home. Then, they can infect their coworkers and productivity goes down.
But economists warn that requiring companies to pay sick workers to stay home is a bad business move.
Dr. John Haltiwanger is an economics professor at the University of Maryland. And he says that a couple of sick days per worker may not seem like a big deal. But when you add up the cost of paid sick leave, and hiring temporary workers, it costs thousands of dollars per worker every year. And many small businesses simply can’t afford that and would be forced to lay off workers, or close down altogether.
So what do you think? Should everyone be entitled to paid sick days? Or do you think people will abuse the privilege and start taking days off even when they’re not sick?
