When Minnesota lawmakers debated a paid unwell leave bill last year, argues that such a law would not allow them to give their employees as many “benefits” or be as “adaptable” to employees’ needs as they would be without such a requirement. Yet half a dozen witnesses spoke in favor of the need, with many workers providing examples of how often they had to work despite being unwell.
Maria Vazquez, a member of a labor organization in Minneapolis, told lawmakers she often feels too unwell to do her job as a housekeeper but cannot afford to miss work.
“And so there were many times when I would come to work, not only with a high fever, but with a fever so high that my legs could barely support me, and people would ask me why I was working, and I had no choice but to take sick leave and disability,” Vazquez said.
The Paid Sick and Medical Leave bill was finally passed and went into effect this month. Another bill providing paid family and medical leave was also passed last year but will go into effect January 2026Minnesota joins 14 other states and the District of Columbia that now require paid unwell leave. Meanwhile, 13 states and DC offer paid family and medical leave, which allows for extended time off, accordingly KFF. Washington, which has had a paid unwell leave law since 2018, updated its law to regulate the accumulation of unwell days for construction workers and to take into account that these workers may have multiple employers in a low period of time. Those changes took effect on Jan. 1. California workers recently won an enhance in the number of paid unwell days employers must provide, from three to five days. In July, Chicago residents can five unwell days each year.
Political momentum to promote paid unwell leave is continuing in other states this year, and policy experts say that momentum could ultimately force the federal government to pass a federal law as more people realize the economic value of paid unwell leave.
Advocates for paid unwell leave in AlaskaNebraska and Missouri are pushing for popular initiatives this year. The group Paid Sick Leave for Nebraskans wants full-time workers to receive at least five to seven days of paid unwell leave and that other workers also receive paid unwell leave. Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages has launched a campaign to get paid unwell leave and an enhance in the minimum wage. on the ballot this year in their state. The amount of paid unwell leave for employees would are equivalent to their working hours and the size of the employer.
Politicians and economists say the lack of paid unwell leave, which tends to affect the most economically unstable workers, forces them to choose between financial stability and their own well-being and the health of their families and coworkers.
Given the increasing spread of respiratory viruses, the problem is particularly urgent this month. Accordingly The Centers for Disease Control’s Jan. 5 update on respiratory virus activity, which includes flu, RSV and COVID-19, shows that emergency room visits are “elevated across all age groups” and continue to rise, except for school-age children. Wastewater levels indicating infection are 27% higher. Hospitals are reporting increases in COVID-19, flu and RSV cases, including in Michigan, Ohio, MarylandAnd New Jersey.
COVID-19 drives discussions
Molly Weston Williamson, senior fellow with the Women’s Initiative at the Center for American Progress, said the COVID-19 pandemic has advanced the policy debate about paid unwell leave.
“The pandemic has brought a new level of attention to the need for paid sick leave, highlighting the critical public health risks and economic and human costs of the status quo – a need that has only been underscored by union actions like the rail workers’ fight for paid sick leave,” she said. “That led to increased policy attention, from temporary paid COVID leave at the federal level in 2020 to new and expanded state and local protections.”
To improve these working conditions, some Democrats and labor advocates are advocating for passage of legislation such as the federal Healthy Families Act, which provides a national right to job-protected leave and sets out a method for calculating eligibility for paid unwell leave, and the FAMILY Act, which provides paid family and medical leave. (The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), passed by Congress in 1993 despite opposition from business, requires employers of a certain size to offer only unpaid family leave.)
A bipartisan House of Representatives working group on family leave has Frame for statutory paid leave options, such as public-private partnerships for government programs and tax credits for paid family and medical leave. A government-funded paid leave program was not included in these options.
In the past, Republicans at the federal level disagreeing with the Democrats about how extensive family and medical leave should be granted and how this leave should be financed.
Sherry Leiwant, co-president and co-founder of A Better Balance, said the released framework is a good step toward advancing more worker-friendly policies in Congress.
“Maybe Republicans are starting to realize that this is really important to people.”
And as more states pass paid unwell leave laws, Leiwant says companies may realize they need more uniformity, especially if they operate across state lines.
An economic necessity
The need for paid unwell days to stabilize workers’ finances is made clear by the data, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute. report in November. While only 63 percent of private sector workers had access to paid unwell days in 2010, that number is now 78 percent, and over the same period the share of lowest-paid workers who had paid unwell days has nearly doubled, the think tank found. The report’s authors also calculated what workers would have to forego in housing, food, transportation and other essentials for their unpaid unwell days.
“If we think about leaving work with no assets or savings, that could have a very big impact on family budgets,” said Hilary Wething, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute and one of the report’s authors. “For example, if a worker loses five days’ pay because they or their child has RSV, that could account for their entire food budget for the month. If they take three days off, that could account for their entire monthly utilities budget and two days’ monthly gas budget, which could make it harder for them to get to work. You can imagine how a series of events could become a much bigger problem for them than it needs to be.”
Condition Republican lawmakers And Corporate groups have often argued that paid family leave and paid unwell leave can be a burden on companies and reduce employee benefits. But Wething said such arguments against paid unwell leave are not supported by existing research and that stability in both workers’ health and finances could also benefit employers.
“When we have a healthier workforce, we have a more productive workforce, and we have to remember that every sick employee can reduce the productivity of a company,” she said. “I think a federal law that gives more people the opportunity to get paid sick leave, essentially by reducing the number of people coming to work sick, will have an economic impact from a public health perspective, which will have a positive impact on employers’ profits.”
Williamson of the Center for American Progress said it was time for the federal government to learn from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and pass the Healthy Families Act.
“We know that paid sick leave works – for workers, businesses and the health of our communities,” she said. “And yet, nearly four years after the outbreak of a deadly pandemic, the United States still does not guarantee a single day of paid sick leave at the federal level.”
