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Send a Letter Today and ask California Legislators to Support This Essential Reform

Nearly six million working Californians currently receive zero paid sick days through their employers. Too many hardworking Californians are forced to choose between losing a day's wages, or even their jobs, when they or their family members become sick.

It is time to give all workers in California the right to paid sick days. The California Labor Federation and California ACORN are sponsoring AB 2716 (Ma) this year to ensure that workers who need to take time off when they are sick are able to do so. This bill would also set a minimum labor standard for our non-union competitors who currently may provide no paid sick days.

AB 2716 will allow a worker to use paid sick time for up to 40 hours or five days in each calendar year for workers at small businesses (10 employees or fewer), and 72 hours or nine days per calendar year for all other workers. They will earn that time at a rate of one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked.

This bill goes hand-in-hand with our continuing efforts toward real health care reform for California. When sick workers are handling our food at restaurants and taking care of our children at daycare centers, everyone suffers. Without time off to recover, workers continue to pass the illness along to one another, resulting in decreased productivity, increased errors, and a growing number of sick customers. Even the employer’s bottom line will be affected. But when workers can stay home to recover from illness, it prevents the illness from spreading in the workplace, which leads to a healthier community, fewer visits to the emergency room, and decreased health care costs.