Tools and Resources for Paid Sick Time Campaigns

Model Laws

• Model Law: Establishing a Right to Paid Sick and Safe Time, Including for Public Health Emergencies (2024)
• Model Law: Establishing Paid Sick Time Leave for a Public Health Emergency (2022)

This model legislation would establish a general right to paid sick and safe time, including leave for a public health emergency. 

Please note that drafting a paid sick time policy requires state-specific research, analysis of underlying state and/or local law and consideration of complex policy issues. Please contact us at jmake@abetterbalance.org or erodriguezanderson@abetterbalance.org regarding more information on how to adapt or customize this model.

Fact Sheets/Studies

General

• General Paid Sick Time Fact Sheet
• 44 Million U.S. Workers Lacked Paid Sick Days in 2010 (IWPR)

Back-to-School

• Paid Sick Time and the Health of Your Children: What You Need to Know

Health

• Summary of Studies on the Health Effects of Paid Sick & Safe Time Ordinances
• Universal Paid Sick Leave Reduces Spread of Flu (University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health)
• Lack of Paid Sick Leave as a Barrier to Cancer Screening & Medical Care-Seeking (BMC Public Health)
• Paid Sick Leave and Nonfatal Occupational Injuries (American Journal of Public Health)
• Paid Sick Days Improve Our Public Health (NPWF)

Economic Security

• Paid Sick Days Protect the Economic Security of Working Families (NPWF)

Seniors

• Keeping Up with the Times: Supporting Family Caregivers with Workplace Leave Policies (AARP)
• Why Paid Leave is an LGBT Aging Issue (A Better Balance Guest Post on SAGE Blog)
• Hispanic Older Adults Need Paid Sick Time (New York City)
• Spanish Language: Hispanic Older Adults Need Paid Sick Time (New York City)
• LGBT Elders Need Paid Sick Time (New York City)

LGBT and HIV/AIDS Communities

• Click here for our numerous fact sheets and resources on paid leave and the LGBT and HIV/AIDS communities.
• Is your campaign interested in developing paid sick time fact sheets for the LGBT and HIV/AIDS communities? A Better Balance is available to help! Please get in touch with us at 212-430-5982 for more information.

The Business Case for Paid Sick Time

• Paid Sick Leave Is Good For Business
• No Big Deal: The Impact of New York City’s Paid Sick Days Law on Employers, The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) (September 2016)
• Paid Sick Leave Does Not Harm Employment, Drum Major Institute for Public Policy (September 2010)
• San Francisco Employment Growth Remains Stronger with Paid Sick Days Law Than Surrounding Counties, IWPR (September 2011)
• San Francisco’s Paid Sick Days Ordinance: Outcomes for Employers and Employees, IWPR (Feb. 2011)
• Employee Benefits in the United States, U.S. Department of Labor – Bureau of Labor Statistics (July 2010)
• Paid Sick Days Lead to Cost Savings for All (January 2012, NPWF)
• Paid Sick Days: Good for Businesses, Good for Workers (August 2011, NPWF)
• Job Growth Strong with Paid Sick Days, IWPR (October 2008)

Organizing Resources

Ideas for Actions

• Back-to-School Ideas for Public Education and Organizing Actions on Paid Sick Time

Flyer Examples

• Flyer for New York City Healthy Families Paid Sick Time Rally
• Flyer for Brooklyn Parents “Speak Out”
• First Flyer for Campaign Relaunch Rally
• Second Flyer for Campaign Relaunch Rally
• Third Flyer for Campaign Relaunch Rally

Letters

• Women’s Call to NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn (NY Times)
• Letter to Faith Leaders on Paid Sick Time

Blueprint for a Regional Work-Family Strategy

• A Work-Family Agenda for New England and the Nation (2011)

Social Media

• How a Twitter Rapid Response Campaign Helped Susan Sarandon ‘Get’ Paid Sick Days (Beth Becker, E-Politics)

Polling Data

• Nationwide Poll Finds That Majorities of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents Support Paid Sick Time, Dave Jamieson and Emily Swanson, Huffington Post (June 2013)
• Still Sick in the City: What the Lack of Paid Leave Means for Working New Yorkers, Nancy Rankin, CSS-NY (January 2012)
• Connecticut Poll Shows Paid Sick Days Standards Are a Bipartisan Voting Issue, Hart Research Associates Survey for the National Partnership for Women and Families (August 2011)
• Paid Sick Days: Attitudes and Experiences, National Opinion Research Center Survey for the Public Welfare Foundation (June 2010)
• Polling Data from Sick in the City: New Yorkers at Every Income Level Support Paid Sick Days, A Better Balance and CSS (October 2009)