Employee Satisfaction - Paid Sick

Introduction

Employees all over the country acquire many benefits of being employed, and many of them are considered necessities. These necessities are due to the fact that employees are human beings with physical and mental needs. Many of these needs are met with the benefits provided by most employers, including those that are required by law. Unfortunately for many, paid sick leave is not one of them. This need, however, can be considered just as important as many of the other benefits available to employees. Employers should consider making this change in their practices for several reasons, and after evaluation of these reasons it is clear to see why deciding to offer this benefit will increase employee satisfaction, improve production, and most likely decrease the risk of the employee’s health deteriorating in the future.

Employee satisfaction

According to a recent survey, it shows that more than three quarters of Americans feel that having paid sick time should be a right guaranteed by the government (Smith, 2008). The main reason for this is because it is inevitable that people get sick. However, if employees will not be paid for staying home sick, the alternative is either going to work sick, or staying home and losing their wages for that day, and also risking discipline and a general negative reaction by the employer. This puts the employee in a state of fear rather than a feeling of comfort knowing their employer does not account for them to be ill, whether it be from a cold, migraine, back pain, stomach bug or the flu.

The loss of wages is a serious factor in today’s world, due to the poor economic condition of the country and the high status of unemployment. Working class Americans may be in a situation where their spouse is out of work, or they are supporting their young adult children longer due to lack of jobs available. Also, the high costs of fuel, increased cost of living and less pay increases can be a factor. In these conditions, employees sometimes must come to work even when they are sick because they simply cannot afford to lose that income.

In the event an employee chooses to come to work sick because they will not be paid if they stay home and recuperate, they are also risking the spreading of their illness to coworkers. This leads to discontent amongst the healthy employees having to work next to an infected individual, risking their own health, which in turn could lead them to the same dire situation of choosing to stay home and not get paid or come to work sick.

All these factors can, and often do, lead to decreased employee satisfaction, which is something that every company should strive to minimize wherever possible. Reports show that highly satisfied groups of employees often exhibit above-average levels of the following characteristics (Gallup, 2003):

• Customer