Sick Days? Not for the Working Poor

“Would you like a sneeze with that?”

Unfortunately for many who work in the food industry, sick days are simply not an option.
A recent survey underlines the sick reality (pun intended) for workers in the restaurant industry.
The Restaurant Opportunity Center, a national organization that helps train and advocate for workers, released a recent report that might make you sick to your stomach in more ways than one.

The report, “Serving While Sick,” is based on more than 4,000 worker surveys and hundreds of interview with employers and workers (mostly full-time) from across the country. It is the largest survey of its kind, and its findings call attention to some frightening trends in the industry.

Perhaps least surprising is the fact that almost 90 percent of those responding to the survey did not receive health insurance from their employer. If that fact weren’t bad enough, 90 percent of restaurant workers don't receive paid sick days and nearly two thirds (63 percent) reported that they cooked or served food while sick.

To me this unsettling fact extends beyond the rights of the worker. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how this might affect the health of the consumer. Who wants to eat food prepared by someone who might accidentally sneeze on it?

Disgusted? Oh, but it gets worse. The report found that nearly half of restaurant workers had cut themselves on the job and almost 45 percent had burned themselves. According to the report, immigrants and people of color, who make up the majority of the restaurant workforce, were particularly impacted and, "experience the combination of poor job conditions, high workplace risk factors and low access to employment benefits."

This is certainly a case where the plight of the poor affects us all… especially if you eat in restaurants. Now that’s some food for thought!

For more information about how CANI helps connect people to medical care, see our Web site: www.canihelp.org/CoveringKids.htm.