American Companies No Longer to Pay Sick Leave to People with COVID
Well this is gonna go over great. Major American companies are rolling back COVID-specific sick leave policies as we enter yet another phase of this endless pandemic. Because apparently the virus got the memo that corporate America is tired of accommodating it.
The shift has been happening quietly over the past few months. Companies that once offered paid time off specifically for COVID illness or quarantine are either eliminating those policies entirely or folding them into regular sick leave. Which sounds fine until you realize most American workers dont have nearly enough regular sick leave to cover a week or two of COVID isolation.
Lets break down the math here. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the average American private sector worker gets about 8 days of paid sick leave per year. COVID typically keeps people out for 5-10 days depending on symptoms and company policy. So one bout of COVID and youve burned through your entire years allocation. Get it twice and youre taking unpaid time or going to work sick.
Guess which option most people are gonna choose when their rent is due.
The argument from companies is that COVID is now endemic. Its just another illness like the flu and should be treated the same way. And on some level thats not crazy. We cant maintain emergency policies forever. The federal requirements for COVID sick leave expired back in 2020 and many companies only kept offering it because of competitive pressure and public relations concerns.
But heres my problem with this logic. COVID is not actually the flu. Yes the acute phase is more manageable now thanks to vaccines and treatments. But Long COVID remains a real thing affecting millions of workers with symptoms that can persist for months. And the whole reason we had special sick leave policies in the first place was to prevent transmission – not just to be nice to sick employees.
When workers cant afford to stay home sick they come in sick. They infect coworkers. Productivity drops across the board. The short-term savings from eliminating sick leave gets eaten up by the medium-term costs of having half your workforce operating at reduced capacity.
Some companies are handling this more thoughtfully than others. A few are increasing their general sick leave pools. Others are offering flexible work arrangements so people can at least work from home when contagious. But many are just cutting the benefit and calling it a return to normal.
We’ve seen how poorly institutions handle COVID policy decisions and this feels like another example of prioritizing short-term thinking over longer-term planning.
The workers most affected are predictably the ones who can least afford it. Service industry. Retail. Food service. People who cant work remotely and often dont have robust sick leave to begin with. The same essential workers we called heroes two years ago are now being told to figure it out themselves.
Look I get it. Companies are businesses. They have to manage costs. But pretending were post-COVID when we’re clearly still in the middle of COVID just with better tools to manage it seems optimistic at best and irresponsible at worst.
The pandemic changed a lot of things about how we work. Apparently one thing it didnt change is the fundamental American approach to sick leave which is basically good luck and dont breathe on anyone.
Note: Policies vary significantly by company and state. Check with your employer about current sick leave provisions.
