Paid Sick Leave For All Maine Employees
Every year, hundreds of thousand of Maine employees attend work while suffering an illness. In 2015 alone, 46% of food workers said that they frequently go to work while sick, because they cannot afford to take the time off to heal. The Salt reported that in 2014, the leading cause of foodborne illnesses (norovirus) was spread through infected food workers. A study conducted by the ROCU in Philadelphia showed that one third of food workers reported that they feared retaliation from management if they were to call out sick. Maine is likely to return similar results. In a nationwide poll, it was revealed that 79% of food workers do not receive any paid sick leave at all. In 2016, this needs to change. As Maine residents, we need to take a stand. How many of us have gone to work coughing, hoarse, or just plain sick? How many of us have gone into a business and been concerned about having sick employees serving us? This is not the fault of the the employee themselves, but a fault of the system. Many people in Maine live paycheck to paycheck. A missed day or termination of employment would have disasterous consequences to them! This petition does not only apply to food workers, but to ALL employed residents of this great state that deserve this benefit, not only to protect ourselves and our health, but to protect those that we serve and assist on a daily basis. On average, people are sick for 5 days each year. We are asking the State of Maine to provide ALL employees with at least 5 paid sick days per calender year. As of now, paid sick leave is an employers BENEFIT. Paid time off to recover from an illness should be a state given RIGHT. How many of us have been threatened with being terminated from our place of employment, or have been given a pay/hour cut simply due to an unexpected illness? We have been forced to work and pass on diseases and illnesses long enough! Take a stand, and demand the right to take care of our mind and body. We demand paid sick days for all employees of Maine!
Comment