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Are you vaccinated against an unhealthy workplace?

Published onOct 07, 2014
Are you vaccinated against an unhealthy workplace?

The United States is far removed from the Ebola epidemic ravaging West Africa.  At least, it was.  When Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, two Americans working in Liberia to help treat Ebola patients, were brought to Emory Hospital in Atlanta for treatment, some feared this move could bring the epidemic to American shores.  Despite these fears, it is unlikely an  Ebola outbreak ever was, or will be a large threat to the United States.  However, that does not mean Americans are safe from a viral outbreak.  More common viruses, such as the flu, may not receive as much attention as the Ebola outbreak, but they are far more likely to have a noticeable effect on the average person.  For example, the CDC estimates approximately 200,000 people are hospitalized with the flu each year.  While the public focused on the protections and precautions taken by healthcare workers who treated Ebola patients, few, if any, employees think about their rights, and the corresponding duties of their employers, to be protected from viruses they encounter in the workplace.

The United States does not have any uniform laws providing paid sick leave for employees.  As a result, efforts to guarantee paid sick leave for employees have occurred at the state and even city level.  For example, in 2011, Connecticut became the first state to guarantee earned paid sick leave for its workers.  Unfortunately, for employees nationwide, Connecticut is the exception, rather than the norm.  Some employees may even live in states which prohibit city governments from establishing the right to paid sick leave.  Employees do have the option of taking unpaid sick leave, especially if their employer falls under the provisions of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).  However, the protections of the FMLA, including leave for certain medical situations, and the continuation of group health insurance coverage, are only triggered by narrowly defined events, such as “a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job.”  Thus, many employees are faced with the option to either miss work and not get paid, or to show up to work while sick.  Facing this choice, many employees choose to show up to work sick, known as presenteeism.  In addition to the obvious possibility of infecting co-workers, presenteeism can carry large financial costs to the employer in the form of lost productivity.  In other words, though easier said than done, it’s in everyone’s best interest for sick employees to just stay home.

With a lack of federal and state oversight, employees may be wondering how best to protect themselves if they are sick.  Unless an employee lives in a state or municipality that mandates sick leave, an employee’s only option is to look to their employment contract.  This can be especially useful for the sixty-one percent of private industry employees who receive paid sick leave.  It is the responsibility of employees to understand exactly what benefits they are entitled to under their employment contracts, including: 1) whether their leave is paid or unpaid; 2) the number of days/hours they are allowed to miss; and 3) possible disciplinary actions if they miss work and do not have paid or unpaid sick leave.  By better understanding possible protections afforded by an employment contract, which could be as simple as a lack of punishment for missing work, employees can better weigh the risks and rewards of missing work when sick.  With this information, employees can take responsibility for their own health, and protect the health of their fellow co-workers.

*Jaime C. Garcia is a second year student at Wake Forest University School of Law. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government and a Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Upon graduation he intends to practice corporate litigation.

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