Morning news.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/health/policy/16sick.html?_r=1&src=twt&twt=nytimes

I was reading this article this morning, about the Happy Families Act that would guarantee that workers would get at least 7 sick days/ year. It would also require that workers get 1 hour of break for every 30 minutes that they work (boy that would have been nice back when I worked at Holister). I mean, I can see how this could be problematic, but shouldn't we value people a little bit more? Why should a mother be fired from her job if her children are sick and there is no one else to watch them. You definitely can't send them to day care and if they are 6 years old, they can't stay at home by themselves.

I'm assuming that in some industries you get more than 7 sick days a year so I'm wondering what this act is aimed at. My dad was a teacher for 30 something years and he used to talk about saving up his sick days...quickly followed by "thats cuz I take my garlic when I feel like I'm getting sick." I honestly can't ever remember my dad with a cold, I guess from 30 years of teaching you end up with a killer immune system.

Anyway, take some time and read this article, it's kind of long so you can just skim it. But I think it's quite interesting. And the people in opposition to it sound kind of like jerk's, but that might just be the way the New York Times wanted it to sound.