Pandemic gave workers 2 weeks sick leave; now many are back to work with no paid leave and few options for care

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For many American workers, the days of two weeks paid sick leave, mandated in the first year of the pandemic, have ended. They have been replaced with hard decisions, which weigh disproportionately on rural residents, reports Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez of Kaiser Health News: "Workers in rural areas face even more challenges than those in cities, including greater distances to hospitals and fewer medical providers, exacerbating health and income disparities. Companies in rural areas may be less likely to voluntarily offer the benefit because they tend to be smaller and there are fewer employers for workers to choose from."

Some jurisdictions have implemented time-off laws, but "Most states where more than 20% of the population is rural haven’t, leaving workers vulnerable," Rodriguez writes. "Vermont [the most rural state by population, 65%] and New Mexico [the 29th most rural, at 25.5%] are the only states with a sizable rural population that have passed laws requiring some form of paid sick leave. . . . Experts say the gaps in paid leave requirements mean workers in rural areas often struggle to care for themselves or loved ones while making ends meet."

The two weeks of sick leave mandated by the 2020 Families First Coronavirus Response Act ended at the end of that year, and its "expiration left workers to rely on the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which requires companies with 50 or more employees to provide them with up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off to care for themselves or family members. But many workers can’t afford to go that long without pay," Rodriguez reports. "Advocates say a stronger federal policy guaranteeing and protecting paid sick and family leave would mean workers wouldn’t have to choose between pushing through illness at work or losing income or jobs."

Rural Americans support paid sick and family leave, "according to the National Partnership for Women & Families, which found in 2020 polling that 80% of rural voters supported a permanent paid family and medical leave program, allowing people to take time off from work to care for children or other family members," Rodriguez writes. "But lawmakers have been divided on creating a national policy, with opponents worrying that requiring paid leave would be too big a financial burden for small or struggling businesses."

San Francisco was the first city to order paid sick leave. Rodriguez reports: "Since then, 14 states, the District of Columbia, and 20 other cities or counties have done so. Two other states, Nevada and Maine [the second most rural state, at 61% of population], have adopted general paid time off laws that provide time that can be used for illness. . . . The patchwork of laws nationwide leaves workers in several mostly rural states — places like Montana [46.6%], South Dakota [42.8%], and West Virginia [55%] . . . without mandated paid sick and family leave."