The dogged determination and can-do spirit of Iron Joes and Rosie Riveters, whose capacity to work tirelessly even when sick inspired the world in earlier generations, has run into an obstacle in the 21st century: Covid 19.
There is a stigma attached to taking time off when feeling under the weather, says professor and Department Chair of Management and Leadership at the University of Houston’s Bauer School of Business Dr. Steve Werner. “There is a general term we have in human resource management called ‘Presenteeism,’ which is that you show up for work even though you’re sick, and you really shouldn’t. Good HR practices try to prevent that,” he says. But it’s ingrained in the working psyche. Everyone wants to be seen as a hard working team player, taking one for the team, showing up with a red runny nose coughing. “You’re good for the organization, and you want to be part of the team, and you don’t want to let anybody down….” Werner adds. “So I think there is a perception of a stigma that if you don’t show up you don’t care.”
Today, it should be stressed by all employers, the opposite is true.
The United States, almost uniquely, doesn’t require businesses to offer sick leave. It’s left to the discretion of employers. Ten U.S. states require it, and 23 cities and two counties. In Texas, Austin, San Antonio and Dallas require sick leave, but Houston does not.
As with many things in Texas, paid sick leave is political. This is Wikipedia’s telling of the state’s policy history on the subject:
Texas
On May Day 2018, labor unions, the Workers Defense Project, progressive businesses, the Democratic Socialists of America, and other activists joined together in calling for a paid sick leave requirement for all workers in Austin. While Texas law prohibits cities from requiring wages above the federal minimum wage for residents, it was silent about non-wage benefits like sick leave, and Austin City Council Member Gregorio Casar and his allies saw an opening to advance labor rights in the city. Austin became the first city in the South to require paid sick leave.[103] Responding to the success in Austin, and due to the advocacy of the organizations who fought for the policy in Austin, both San Antonio and Dallas passed Austin's version of paid sick leave ordinance.[104]. Following passage, business groups sued to block the Austin law.[105] Appeals of that decision are pending. Additionally, Republican State lawmakers are seeking to pass legislation to prohibit cities from requiring employers to offer paid sick leave, but those efforts have not been successful. A lobbyist opposed to paid sick leave requirements believed the bills failed to pass due to a growing progressive movement in Texas, saying: “I think they’re winning in a red state. … They’re starting to take over the state, and they will.”[106]
“I think the political angle is very interesting, and I think you can now make an easy case that the right thing to do is to not show up when you’re sick,” Werner says.“I think that’s what good HR practices would still recommend, as they always have.”