From The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Juliana Feliciano Reyes and Cynthia Fernandez
That’s been a big topic of conversation as the coronavirus spreads across the U.S., especially because it’s low-wage workers, who can’t work from home, who would be most hard hit by a lack of paid sick days — and most likely to transmit the virus to customers they interact with.
There is no federal law allowing workers to earn paid sick leave, but last Friday, Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill that would allow workers to get up to seven days of paid leave and give them 14 days of paid sick leave immediately, in a public health emergency.
The proposed bill doesn’t cover independent contractors, though, which include gig workers such as Uber drivers and food delivery couriers who will be relied on to deliver food to homes of the self-quarantined. The coronavirus outbreak has renewed calls among advocates for more rights for these workers.
Read the full article: Paid sick days in the time of coronavirus: Here’s what Philadelphia workers need to know