Study: Paid Sick Leave a Public Health Issue

A new study suggests that workers without paid sick leave are more likely to forego medical care for themselves or their family when they're ill.

Not surprisingly, they also take off fewer days of work whenever they are ill or injured, researchers say.

"These findings are a big deal. Paid sick leave should be thought of as a major public health issue," said study co-author Patricia Stoddard-Dare, an associate professor of social work at Cleveland State University in Ohio.

The study appears in the March issue of Health Affairs.

Many other developed countries require employers to let employees take sick days with pay, but the United States doesn't. An estimated 70 percent of U.S. full-time workers have paid sick leave, and some states and cities require it in certain cases, according to the study authors. But an estimated 8 out of every 10 part-time workers lack this benefit, the researchers noted.