Lack of Sick Time Worries Workers as Coronavirus Looms

More than 33 million U.S. workers had no access to sick leave in 2019, according to federal government data cited by the Wall Street Journal , which is posing challenges amid the coronavirus outbreak. Large companies are implementing special sick-time benefits to employees. However, sick policies vary significantly among employees with paid sick time, with federal data showing that about 4 percent of private-sector workers with paid sick time have an unlimited number of days to use, 32 percent have days that can be used for any purpose, and 65 percent have a fixed number of sick days annually. Moreover, 93 percent of workers in the top 10 percent of earners have paid sick days, but that number drops to 30 percent for the bottom 10 percent of earners, an Economic Policy Institute analysis shows. Laws requiring employers to provide paid sick days are in place in 11 states and Washington, D.C., along with 22 cities and counties.