Eli Lanczos testifies at a Seattle City Council hearing in favor of paid sick days

You helped pass paid sick days in Seattle – but the devil is in the details. As the city begins drafting the rules that will actually implement the new ordinance, your input is crucial!

By attending one of these meetings, you can help ensure Seattle’s Paid Sick Days ordinance is a success!:

• Tuesday, January 24, 2-3:30 p.m.
  Seattle City Hall, Bertha Landis Room

• Wednesday, February 1, 7-8:30 p.m.
  Meadowbrook Community Center, Room 22

• Thursday, February 9, 7-8:30 p.m.
  Jefferson Community Center, Hassselburg Hall

State lawmakers are studying paid sick and safe days bills - and they need to hear your stories!

UPDATED – 01/20/2012, 4:32 PM

Washington lawmakers are studying two Paid Sick and Safe Days bills during this legislative session (House Bill 2508 and Senate Bill 6229) – and they need to hear from you!

Please contact your legislators now to tell them why Paid Sick and Safe Days are important for you and your family’s health and economic security.

And if you’re able, come down to Olympia to show your support for the legislation at these committee hearings:

• Tues, Jan 24, 1:30-3:30 pm, Cherburg Senate Hearing Room 4: Labor, Commerce & Consumer Protection Committee

• Wed, Jan 25, 1:30 -3:30 pm, Joint Legislative Office Building, House Hearing Rm C: Labor and Workforce Development Committee

You can learn more about the proposed legislation in this handy overview.

The Washington Family Leave Coalition will be working with legislators on the Paid Sick and Safe Leave bills in the coming weeks – but we need your help. Public hearings on the bills will be held in late Januray, and we need people who can share personal testimony about importance of paid sick days for working people and families.

If you can help, please contact Marilyn Watkins.

The report, titled “Discounted Jobs: How Retailers Sell Workers Short,” surveyed 436 workers in jobs across the five boroughs, making it one of the most comprehensive studies to date on the industry’s workforce in New York.

It found retail workers are often paid poverty-level wages, rarely receive benefits, lack paid sick days, and many are forced to rely on government programs.

Some of the highlights findings:

A third of New York City retail workers support families on less than $10 an hour, and more than half rely on government programs for health care or simply live without it.

Nearly one-third of those surveyed supported at least one additional family member on their wages; their median income was $9.50 an hour.

Typically, retail has been considered an entry-level job, focused on younger employees or women who are also juggling family-raising duties. But more than 70% of surveyed workers had completed some college or possessed a college degree.

Read the full story from Crain’s New York Business: Retail workers struggle to make ends meet »

Your nose is running, your throat is scratchy, and your eyes are burning. But you drag yourself out of bed, dress, and head to the office anyway feeling virtuous and sick. Once there, you proceed to share your virus with your coworkers. But at least you showed up to get the job done, right?

Wrong, according to a new study. Presenteeism — attending work while ill — is not always a smart choice for individuals or the organizations for which they work. It is entirely possible that a worker who is ill may be present physically, but mentally he or she might as well be home in bed.

A flu or cold virus or other illness spreading among coworkers can mean the loss of more than one employee’s productivity. It can paralyze entire departments. The study found that certain organizational cultures tend to promote presenteeism, or at least discourage absenteeism.

For the study, Gary Johns, a management professor at Concordia’s John Molson School of Business surveyed 444 people, asking about their job requirements, work experience, the numbers of days they had been out sick (absenteeism), and the number of days they had come to work feeling ill (presenteeism).

Read more from The Atlantic: The Cost of Not Taking a Sick Day »