Paid Sick Days for Every Rhode Island Worker
Rhode Island General Assembly
Coronavirus has made its way to Rhode Island. Fortunately, there is a very simple step that state leaders can take to help contain its spread -- by strengthening our paid sick days law to ensure that every single worker is covered!
Rhode Island's 2017 sick time legislation expanded paid sick days to 100,000 workers. But corporate lobbyists successfully capped sick time at five days, and won carve-outs for certain businesses employing tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders.
If missing work means missing rent, people are going to go to work sick, whether they’re nursing our elders or caring for our babies or handling our food. In the face of coronavirus, paid sick days is not just a moral imperative -- it’s a medical necessity.
That's why we're calling on the Rhode Island General Assembly to take action as quickly as possible to strengthen our sick time law to cover every Rhode Island worker.
Our community is only as healthy as our least protected neighbors. Our health will be determined by the height of the floor, not the ceiling. So let's finish the work we started in 2017 -- because nobody should have to choose between their health and their paycheck.
Petition by
To:
Rhode Island General Assembly
From:
[Your Name]
In 2017, Rhode Island passed legislation that guaranteed paid sick time to 100,000 workers who previously lacked this critical protection. This was a huge step forward.
But corporate lobbyists were successful in carving out tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders who still don't have this basic health necessity.
This is particularly concerning now that coronavirus has made its way to Rhode Island. If missing work means missing rent, people are going to go to work sick, whether they’re nursing our elders or caring for our babies or handling our food. In the face of coronavirus, paid sick days is not just a moral imperative -- it’s a medical necessity.
We are calling on you to finish the work our state legislature began in 2017 by taking action as quickly as possible to strengthen our sick time law to cover every Rhode Island worker.
We are only as healthy as our least protected neighbors. Please stand up to protect our Rhode Island community!