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_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
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International Labour Organization (ILO)

 

Wage continuation during sickness: Observations on paid sick leave provisions in times of crises [24 June 2010]

http://www.socialsecurityextension.org/gimi/gess/RessShowRessource.do?ressourceId=17463

or

http://www.socialsecurityextension.org/gimi/gess/RessFileDownload.do;jsessionid=ab8dcd7fd508ece6c08d545af72f035e7febd0e1d0012b7c39ce3484b766e304.e3aTbhuLbNmSe34PbxqQaxqKbhn0?ressourceId=17463

[full-text, 26 pages -- including CHARTS & TABLES...]

 

Summary

Paid sick leave plays a crucial role especially in times of crises where many workers fear dismissal and discrimination when reporting sick. In fact, the absence of paid sick days forces ill workers to decide between caring for their health or losing jobs and income, choosing between deteriorating health and risking to impoverish themselves and often their families. Without social health protection that includes paid sick leave many people working in the formal or informal economy and living in developed or developing countries cannot afford to choose.

 

Limited evidence is available for governments, employers and workers’ unions on the consequences of gaps in providing for paid sick leave and costs of failing to address the needs of the vulnerable. Developing reliable internationally comparable data is constrained by the complex interplay of health and socio-economic conditions including regulations, labour market structure and vulnerability when taking up paid sick leave. Against this background, this paper seeks to focus on the existing national and international evidence and provides some insights into the concepts, patterns and affordability of paid sick leave in countries throughout the world. Further, it is argued that providing for sick leave and related income replacement is a key component of decent work and should be considered within national social protection floors.

 

List of contents

List of contents ........................................................................................................................................................1

The economic costs of working while sick................................................................................................................2

What are the concepts of paid sick leave? ...............................................................................................................3

The notion of paid sick leave ...............................................................................................................................3

Organization and financing of paid sick leave ......................................................................................................4

Paid sick leave benefits and coverage ..................................................................................................................5

What is the current situation at the global level? ....................................................................................................8

Incidence and patterns of paid sick leave .............................................................................................................8

Incidence of paid sick leave ..............................................................................................................................8

Patterns of paid sick leave ............................................................................................................................. 11

Expenditure and affordability ............................................................................................................................ 15

Sick leave expenditure in the context of national economies ...................................................................... 15

Sick leave expenditure in the context of expenditure on social protection ................................................. 16

Policy lessons: Embedding paid sick leave into national social protection floors ................................................. 19

Bibiliography ......................................................................................................................................................... 22

Endnotes ............................................................................................................................................................... 25

 

 

Press Release 24 June 2010

Paid sick leave pays off in times of crisis

http://www.ilo.org/global/About_the_ILO/Media_and_public_information/Feature_stories/lang--en/WCMS_142245/index.htm

 

Paid sick leave plays a crucial role especially in times of crises where many workers fear dismissal and discrimination when reporting sick. A new ILO study shows that paid sick leave is not only affordable but pays off in terms of health and economic gains for employers, workers and the economy at large. ILO Online spoke with Xenia Scheil-Adlung, co-author of the study and ILO Health Policy Coordinator.

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Stuart Basefsky                   
Director, IWS News Bureau                
Institute for Workplace Studies 
Cornell/ILR School                        
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             
New York, NY 10016                        
                                   
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  
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