Paid sick leave prevents thousands of COVID cases daily, study says

By Samantha Fields

(EXCERPT)

That’s even though the law “essentially left out 106 million workers nationwide,” said Pronita Gupta, director of job quality at the advocacy group the Center for Law and Social Policy. She said the emergency sick leave policy does not apply to companies with more than 500 employees. A lot of smaller companies have been able to get exemptions, and a lot of workers who are covered don’t know it.

The law will expire at the end of December, and Gupta said if Congress doesn’t extend it, “you’re going to see the spread of contagion. As the nation tries to recover and tries to reopen, it’ll continue to hamper that reopening — and it’ll have long-term impacts,” Gupta said.

Impacts on people’s health and well-being, she said, and on the nation’s economy.

 

Read the full article here

Source URL: https://www.marketplace.org/2020/11/05/paid-sick-leave-prevents-thousands-covid-cases-daily-study-says/