Currently in the United States there are laws that mandate what
benefits if any need to be provided for employees. a While they don’t
have to provide health benefits to their employees if there are under
50 employees, if they have more than 50, companies who don’t offer
them are fined by the IRS. Even with these laws in regard to what if
any benefits a company has to offer their employees, currently there
aren’t any laws mandating that employers have to give their
employees sick time; this can create a negative and unhealthy work
environment. a Benefits as well as paid sick days are all helpful when it
comes to retaining and attracting workers.
So why would a company not offer these benefits that are used to
attract and retain offers. a Most often it comes down to cost,
especially in terms of sick pay. a While the benefits to offering paid day
off for illness include a healthier work environment for all, but also
less stress in the long run for the employee. Studies have shown that
“Two days of unpaid sick time are roughly the equivalent of a month’s
worth of gas, making it difficult to get to work” (Gould & Schieder,
2017). a This amount of struggle for the employee goes up for every
day they are unable to work due to illness. a Missing as many as 7 days
of work, could mean wondering how you are going to keep a roof
over your head because they may not have enough to pay a rent or
mortgage.
While paying workers to stay home when they are ill, seems like a
huge loss financially to a company, there are financial benefits to be
gained in the long run. When a company does not offer paid sick
time, but another business in the vicinity does, this could be costly in
training new employees. By offering these sick days, companies can
save in the long run “Paid sick days reduce turnover, which leads to
reduced costs incurred from advertising, interviewing and training
new hires” (National Partnership for Women & Families, 2020).
It seems silly not to offer paid sick days and benefits to employees.
Cost savings in the long run, and corporate culture would improve
dramatically. This was proven by Tony Hsieh with his company
Zappos. Though his board of directors thought how he treated his
employees was a mere “social experiment” (Hsieh, 2020), it proved
to be vital to the organization’s success and growth. In order to
determine how successful a business can be, matters such as
employee benefits greatly improve the triple bottom line.
Sources:
Gould, E., & Schieder, J. (2017, June 28). Work sick or lose pay? The
high cost of being sick when you don’t get paid sick days. Economic
Policy Institute. Retrieved January 13, 2022, from
https://www.epi.org/publication/work-sick-or-lose-pay-the-high-
cost-of-being-sick-when-you-dont-get-paid-sick-days/
Hsieh, T. (2020). Why I sold Zappos. In People, planet, and profit.
Soomo Learning. https://www.webtexts.com (Reprinted from “Why I
sold Zappos,” 2010, Inc.)
Johnson, J. (n.d.). Employee Benefits 101: What to Offer and How to
Decide. U.S. Chambers of Commerce. Retrieved January 13, 2022,
from https://www.uschamber.com/co/run/human-
resources/choosing-employee-benefits
Paid Sick Days Are Good for Business. National Partnership for Women
& Families. (2020, October 20). Retrieved January 13, 2022, from
https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-
work/resources/economic-justice/paid-sick-days/paid-sick-days-
good-for-business-and-workers.pdf
Soomo Learning. (2020). People, planet, and profit.
https://www.webtexts.com
