NBC Bay Area finds that workers are worried about taking time off from work because they may lose their jobs otherwise. In their investigation, NBC points out to the nearly 20 million workers receive little or no paid sick leave from their employers, which is further explored in The Shift Project's findings.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, four in ten workers do not have access to paid sick leave. The Shift Project's March 2020 report examines some of the top retailers and food chains, with a significant percentage of workers not having access to paid sick leave at many of these companies.
Initially, Kroger announced a new paid sick leave policy that would give employees 14 paid days to anyone diagnosed with COVID or placed under mandatory quarantine, a policy that has been described as insufficient. However, after the publishing of the article, Kroger announced an expansion to include anyone told to self-isolate by a health care professional.
Using Shift survey data we share tabulations of the percent of hourly workers who report that they lack access to paid leave from their employer and estimates of the number of workers at several company who report that they lack access to paid sick leave.
Walmart announced a new paid sick leave policy covering employees anyone diagnosed with COVID or placed under mandatory quarantine, but many workers continue to express their worry that these policies are not enough.
Based on 2018-2019 survey data, The Shift Project published a report on what paid sick leave access looks like across the largest companies in the US. Many of the workers most affected, including fast-food and grocery workers, are the ones who have the most contact with people, posing a great health concern.
Employers' responses to COVID-19 have varied, with some implementing paid sick leave policies while others asking employees to take weeks of unpaid leave. Adding to this instability is the volatile schedules that many service sector workers experience which makes accessing social services even more challenging.
The New York Times published Shift data on paid sick leave at large national chains, revealing which companies provide paid sick leave to their frontline workers, and which do not.
