[Reblog] Why Are Grocery and Retail Workers Important to Public Health?

From the 29th August 2013 article at Sound Progress by Julie Watts

Cold and flu season is just around the corner.  So what do grocery and retail workers have to do with public health? In a nutshell, they handle your food and if they don’t have adequate sick days from their employers, you may be more likely to get sick.

That is why, paid sick leave for grocery and retail workers is so important.

In addition to the common colds and flus that are passed along when an ill cashier touches every item that goes into a customer’s grocery bag, serious illnesses are spread as a result of people working while sick.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently found that sick food workers cause over half of norovirus outbreaks, and contributed to another 29% of outbreaks.
• During the H1N1 Pandemic in 2009, sick workers may have caused as many as 7 million co-workers to get sick.
• In 2011, 16% of documented foodborne illnesses in Washington were caused by ill food workers.

A lack of paid sick leave can also harm child health and school performance.

No caregiver wants to be in the position of choosing between staying home to care for a sick child and going to work so they can pay the bills. However, without adequate paid sick leave, many families must decide between caring for a sick child at home and losing needed pay or risking their jobs.

• One in five workers in a recent survey we conducted of grocery and supercenter workers live with at least one child and do not have any other adults in their households.
• In Washington, the majority of preschoolers and school-age children live in homes where all parents are employed.

Adequate paid sick days mean fewer children going to school sick. When parents can stay at home with their kids, recovery times are shorter and germs stay home too—ensuring healthier schools, families and communities. For more information read our policy brief on Paid Sick Days on our website.  Also see our article on the results of our examination of paid sick leave for grocery and retail workers.

So be sure to cover your cough with your elbow, AND ask your local supermarket if they offer paid sick days to their employees!

Related articles

• D.C. Restaurant Workers Fight For Paid Sick Days During Restaurant Week (washington.cbslocal.com)
• The GOP wants you to go to work sick (healthytacoma.net)
• Seattle Speaks for Itself: D.C. Corporate Group is dead wrong on paid sick leave (eoionline.org)
• It’s Time for Paid Sick Days in Tacoma – Demand Action Today (healthytacoma.net)
• Sick-leave pay in Seattle and beyond (blogs.seattletimes.com)
• Don’t sneeze in my linguini: A paid sick days news round-up (healthytacoma.net)
• 20 Years After FMLA, We Can Do Better for Working Families (waworkandfamily.org)

 

Great presentation! complete with graphs (you might need to pause to read them, as I did!)
Language is a bit earthy, but not vulgar
Only negative comment I have…
Speaker said to stay home if you have flu, it is not the end of the world if you do stay home.
Perhaps not, but for those in low paying jobs without paid sick days, it is a very difficult choice to make…the money is needed just for basics as food…

Related articles

• The Time for Earned Sick Leave is Now (blueoregon.com)
• Paid sick leave a wise investment (waworkandfamily.org)
• How No Sick Days Make Us Sick (andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com)

 

Engineer & Entertain

I could not have said it better myself.

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[UM Hospital Report] Sick Kids, Struggling Parents

From the report

• Nearly two-thirds of parents of young children in child care say their children could not attend because of illness in the past year.
• One-third of parents of young children are concerned about losing jobs or losing pay when taking off work to care for their sick children.
• 8% of parents with kids in child care say taking their sick child to the emergency room is more convenient than seeing a primary care doctor.

….

Work Impact

Missing work because a sick child was sent home or not allowed into child care is common; 42% of parents of young children in child care have missed work in the last year. Nearly a quarter of parents (26%) missed work three or more times over a one-year period because of their child.

When a child is sick, parents must either take time off from work, make other child care arrangements, or try to get immediate medical care in order to comply with exclusion policies for the child care setting. One-half of parents with children in child care report that finding alternative or back-up child care for their sick children is difficult (Figure 1).

In addition, about one-third of parents say taking time off of work with a sick child is difficult because they may lose pay or lose their job, and a similar proportion report that they do not receive enough paid time off from work to care for their sick children (Figure 1).

When asked about where to take a sick child for care, 8% of parents with children in child care say taking their sick child to the emergency room is more convenient than seeing a primary care doctor…..

 

Additional UM Reports (over 50) may be found here 
Titles include

• Parents of high school athletes speak out on performance-enhancing drugs
• Knowledge key to support for embryonic stem cell research
• Who do voters prefer for children’s health issues?
• Bullying worries parents of overweight and obese children
• Retail clinics: an emerging source of health care for children
• Obesity tops list of biggest health problems for kids in 2008
• Summer safety for ‘tweens’ home alone
• Children in research: many parents willing if risk of harm is small
• Ask the doctor: is my child’s medicine FDA-approved?
• Child health threats: are consumer alerts enough?

Related articles

• New poll shows importance of paid sick leave to parents of young children (washingtonpolicywatch.org)
• One-third of parents concerned about losing jobs, pay when they stay home with sick kids who can’t attend child care (prnewswire.com)
• Parents fear sick kids will cost them their jobs (sott.net)
• Times are tough for low-wage workers (miamiherald.com)
• Improving child care in the U.S.: A Q&A (nj.com)