Sick leave can include a mental health day and taking time away from work to go to a scheduled doctor's appointment.
Most European, many Latin American, a few African, and a few Asian countries have legal requirements for paid sick leave for employees.
In nations without laws mandating paid sick leave, some employers offer it voluntarily or as the result of a collective bargaining agreement.
[2][3] Workers without paid sick leave are also less likely to obtain preventive medical care, such as cancer screenings and flu shots.
[6] Paid sick leave can reduce the overall frequency of time off work, as workers are less likely to spread disease to co-workers and the surrounding community.
[16] The total cost of providing paid sick leave in that high-cost market was estimated to be around 40 or 50 cents per hour worked.
[17] For workers in the foodservice industry, one analysis found that foodborne illness outbreak for a chain restaurant – including negative public opinion, which affects other operations in a metropolitan area – can be up to $7 million.
[19] At least 145 countries require paid sick leave for short- or long-term illnesses, with 127 providing a week or more annually.
[21] The sustainability of sickness benefit schemes is related to the nature of the agreement between the employer and the social security system.
According to Chinese Labor Law, the sick leave system is established for employees who are suffering from illness or non-work-related injuries.
[28] The minimum sick leave is three months long for employees with less than a ten-year cumulative work history and less than five years' seniority with their current employer.
According to § 48 SGB V (social code 5) the health insurance pays for a maximum of 78 weeks in case of a specific illness within a period of three years.
For all absences exceeding 2 consecutive days, a medical certificate from a doctor needs to be enclosed stating the reason and duration of the illness.
)[citation needed] The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump in March 2020, mandated that the federal government implement paid sick leave for some workers.
[45][46][47] A 2009 analysis from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found that around 39% of American workers in the private sector do not have paid sick leave.
[49][full citation needed] Most food service and hotel workers (78%) lack paid sick days.
[52] When paid sick leave is required by law, workers tended to take two more days off work each year.
In November 2006, the voters of San Francisco passed a ballot initiative making the city the first in the country to guarantee paid sick days to all workers.
[68] In March 2008, the Washington, D.C. Council voted unanimously to pass legislation guaranteeing workers paid sick time.
[69] The D.C. law was also the first in the United States to include paid "safe" days for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
The Act applies to the "service workers" of employers with 50 or more employees in Connecticut during any single quarter in the previous year.
[71][72] On November 4, 2014, Massachusetts voters approved "Question 4", a ballot measure mandating sick pay for all part-time and full-time workers at firms with more than 11 employees.
[73] On June 12, 2015, the Oregon legislature passed OL 537, 2015 mandating sick pay for all workers at businesses with at least ten employees (six for cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants, e.g. Portland) effective January 1, 2016.
[74] On May 23, 2023, the Minnesota legislature presented portions of the state's biennial budget to the governor's office which included a new requirement for "earned sick and safe time" (ESST).
Already in 1500 BCE, at least some of the workers who built the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs received paid sick leave as well as state-supported health care.