During a November 10 Senate subcommittee hearing on the H1N1 influenza virus (“swine flu”) and paid sick leave, Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) announced that he plans to introduce a bill that would entitle most employees to take up to 7 days of paid sick leave to deal with the H1N1 or seasonal flu. According to a press release, under the terms of this bill workers would be entitled to the paid leave for their own flu-like symptoms, medical diagnosis or preventive care, to care for a sick child, or to care for a child whose school or child care facility has been closed due to the spread of flu. The decision to take this leave would be left to the employee’s discretion, although the Department of Labor could issue regulations requiring medical certification. If signed into law, the provisions of this bill would take effect 15 days after enactment, and sunset after 2 years.

Similar legislation was introduced in the House on November 3.  The terms of the House version of the bill appear to be more stringent, however. The House’s Emergency Influenza Containment Act (H.R. 3991) would provide up to 5 days of leave to deal with a contagious illness only if the employer directs or advises the employee to stay home. Employees would not be entitled to paid leave if they decide for themselves to stay home.

The Senate’s more generous emergency sick leave legislation borrows from The Healthy Families Act (H.R. 2460, S. 1152), a paid sick leave bill introduced earlier this year in both chambers of Congress. The Healthy Families Act would allow employees to earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked up to a maximum of 56 hours (seven days) annually. Employees could take this leave to attend to their own or a family member’s illness, or use the paid time off for preventative care such as doctor’s appointments.

Photo credit: phildate