Photo by Flickr member Mcfarlandmo, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the US is in the midst of the worst flu season it’s seen in a decade. In Boston, a state of emergency has been declared, where at least 18 people have died because of the flu. The CDC recommends that people with flu-like symptoms stay home and avoid contact with others, except to receive medical care. But as Think Progress reports,
“for a huge number of American workers, that option doesn’t exist due to a lack of paid sick days. 40 percent of private sector workers and a whopping 80 percent of low-income workers do not have a single paid sick day. One in five workers reports losing their job or being threatened with dismissal for wanting to take time off while sick”
So what’s a country to do?
One idea is to avoid restaurants that don’t provide paid sick leave—in the food industry the potential for spreading disease is high, especially with 79% of workers reporting that they are unable able to take a paid sick day.
While this would do little for sick workers this season, it does have the potential to reduce the spread of disease, and perhaps it could act as an incentive for employers to provide better benefits to their workers (although there are other reasons why providing paid sick leave is good for business).
Which restaurants don’t provide paid sick leave to their employees?
Each year the Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United publishes a guide on the working conditions in popular America restaurants. In their latest guide, the following restaurants are noted for not providing paid sick leave:
7-Eleven Logan’s Roadhouse AppleBees Long John Silver’s BJ’s Restaurants Longhorn Steakhouse Bob Evan’s Restaurants Luby’s Cafeteria Bojangle’s Famous Chick ‘N Biscuits Maggiano’s Little Italy Bonefish Grill McCormick & Schmick’s Boston Market McDonald’s Buca Di Beppo Moe’s Southwest Grill Buffalo Wild Wings Morton’s, The Steakhouse California, Pizza Kitchen Noodles & Company Capital Grille O’Charley’s Captain D’s Old Chicago Carino’s Italian On the Border Carl’s Jr Outback Steakhouse Carrabba’s Italian Grill Papa Murphy’s Cheddar’s Causual Café Perkin’s Restaurant Bakery Chick-Fil-A Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Chili’s Grill Bar Portillo’s Hot Dogs Church’s Chicken Pot Belly Sandwich Works Coldstone Creamery Qdoba Mexican Grill Coner Bakery Café Quizno’s Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Rainforest Café Dave & Buster’s Rally’s Hamburgers Denny’s Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Dunkin’ Donuts Ruby Tuesday Famous Dave’s Ruth’s Chris Steak House Firehouse Subs Sbarro Pizza Five Guys Burgers & Fries Sheetz Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar Starbucks Fuddruckers Steak N Shake Godfather’s Pizza Subway Golden Corral T.G.I Fridays Hardee’s Taco Bell Houlihan’s The Melting Pot Huddle House Uno Chicago Grill/Pizzeria Jason’s Deli Whataburger Jersey Mike’s Subs Wienerschnitzel Johnny Rockets Wingstop Krystal Yard House Little Ceasers Pizza
Wow! I honestly thought that some of those employers would have provided sick. Quite shocked by 7-eleven :-0