Urge Congress to Pass National Paid Sick Leave

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is causing a global health emergency. As care providers, legislators, and experts work to mitigate the risks of the virus spreading, an essential component of prevention is missing: national paid sick leave.

The United States is still the only developed nation without a national policy on paid sick leave. Right now, American employees who lack paid sick leave must go to work to provide for their families – despite being ill, and possibly contagious.

But it's not just about Coronavirus; paid sick leave:

• is associated with reduced flu rates in the jurisdictions they cover,
• reduces costs of emergency health care services,
• saves employers money by reducing turnover costs of replacing workers,
• helps protect the paychecks and employment of survivors of domestic violence, and
• helps family caregivers.

While many government workers, including U.S. legislators, have paid sick leave, roughly 57 million workers do not. Many of these individuals work in jobs with high risk of exposure – hourly or lower-paying jobs, the "gig economy," or in our education system – and have contact with hundreds of people each day while working.

Sign the petition and urge Congress to pass legislation to provide national paid sick leave.