Lack of Money May Worsen Flu Pandemic
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The H1N1 may spread worse because people say they can’t afford to to stay home if they get sick.
Public health experts are raising concerns that workers who deal with the public, like waiters and child care employees, are jeopardizing others by reporting to work sick because they do not get paid for days they miss for illness.
Tens of millions of people, or about 40 percent of all private-sector workers, do not receive paid sick days, and as a result many of them cannot afford to stay home when they are ill. Even some companies that provide paid sick days have policies that make it difficult to call in sick, like giving demerits each time someone misses a day.
Public health experts say policies like these encourage many people with H1N1, commonly called swine flu, to report to work despite official warnings from the government and most companies that they should stay home.
Some people who are really caught on a weekly income might say they are desperate for money and that they are going into work even though they are sick.
Many of these financially squeezed workers might also send their flu-stricken children to school, infecting others. Many will not see a doctor because they do hot have health insurance. Although there are affordable health insurance plans.
Well before President Obama declared H1N1 a national emergency, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was emphasizing that businesses should adopt “flexible leave policies” to allow workers with the flu to stay home. In one advisory, the C.D.C. encouraged employers “to develop nonpunitive leave policies.”
Despite such recommendations, some employees say they have no choice but to go to work sick.
Lenneice A. Drew is an experienced journalist currently focused on healthcare reform. She is working to help others achieve better lives by finding affordable health insurance alternatives and reporting stories related to the health care industry. She lives in Miami, Florida.
