Workers at the top of the wage scale are more than four times more likely to have paid sick days than workers toiling near the bottom wage scale, says a new Economic Policy Institute (EPI) Economic Snapshot.
Just 19 percent of low-wage workers have paid sick days, compared with 86 percent of high-wage workers. These low-income workers are the ones who can least afford to lose pay when they are sick. Overall one in four workers have no paid sick days and when they become ill, are forced to go to work sick, or stay home without pay and risk losing their job. continue reading