On April 1st, the coronavirus "paid sick leave and expanded family leave law" went into effect.
What does that mean?
Essentially it says that full-time employees get paid sick time (up to 10 days/or 80hr cap) and after taking those 2 weeks of paid leave, those who have been employed for at least 30 days could be eligible for up to an ADDITIONAL 10 WEEKS of partially paid medical leave for reasons such as:
⁃ Continued symptoms
⁃ Caring for other individuals
⁃ Childcare issues
Sounds fair doesn't it?
Not for most healthcare workers.
On April 1st most of us (who is us?) were told "it doesn't apply to you."
Why?
For no other reason other than that we fall into the Coronavirus Response Acts "loop hole," which was not explained to us in any detail by our respective companies. It states:
"Employers of health care providers or emergency responders may elect to exclude such employees from eligibility for the leave provided under the act."
This is, in a word, shameful.
We subject ourselves to exposure to super bugs every day, but we can be excluded for any arbitrary reason our employers choose.
We can't social distance.
We can't guarantee we won't bring this home to our loved ones, yet we the healthcare workers who are keeping this medical machine moving, are excluded from these benefits.
The bottom line, the covid-19 pandemic aside, is that we as healthcare workers—truly essential staff—are people who are vulnerable to viruses and germs day in and day out.
We need sick leave annually—period.
We must seize this moment. We cannot let this be swept under the rug.
THIS IS NOT OKAY.
Healthcare institutions everywhere, in every setting, should be mandated by the government to give their employees sick time. Additionally, the use of family leave should ALWAYS be an option if needed.
Our united voices can make a difference. #HWLM
