Topic of the Week

Am I Entitled To Sick Leave?

Contrary to popular belief, there is no general legal requirement that employers give employees sick leave. While most employers do in fact give employees some paid time off each year to be used for sick leave, the law does not require employers to do so

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Blog of the Week

Everyone can get coronavirus, but economic inequality means it will be worst for those at the bottom

Coronavirus doesn’t spare the powerful. As of this writing, two members of the House, a senator, and the president of Harvard University have tested positive. But as with so many things in the unequal United States of America, it’s going to be worse for people who are already vulnerable: low-income people, people in rural areas, homeless people, single parents, inmates, and more.

Thought for the Week

"Every time a woman leaves the workforce because she can't find or afford childcare, or she can't work out a flexible arrangement with her boss, or she has no paid maternity leave, her family's income falls down a notch. Simultaneously, national productivity numbers decline."

–Madeleine M. Kunin

List of the Week

from National Compensation Survey

• 24% of U.S. civilian workers, or roughly 33.6 million people, do not have access to paid sick leave
• 92% of workers in the top quarter of earnings (meaning hourly wages greater than $32.21) have access to some form of paid sick leave
• Among the lowest-earning tenth – those whose wages are $10.80 an hour or less – just 31% have paid sick leave

Top Five News Headlines

1. Bosses Panic-Buy Spy Software to Keep Tabs on Remote Workers
2. A far-right rallying cry: Older Americans should volunteer to work
3. San Francisco Says Coronavirus Has Made Gig Economy’s Labor Abuses Untenable
4. Can your boss make you come to work during coronavirus outbreak?
5. University of Rochester and plaintiffs settle sexual harassment lawsuit for $9.4 million