Last month, San Francisco workers became the first in the nation to be guaranteed paid sick leave. And with resurgent Democrats championing a similar measure in Congress, the rest of the nation may soon follow.

While many of us take for granted the ability to call in sick and still get paid, an estimated 43 percent of nongovernment workers have no paid sick leave benefit, government statistics show. Existing federal law provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for illness, but many workers cannot afford to go without pay checks for so long.

Come February, virtually every employee in San Francisco will begin accruing as many as nine paid days off per year for illness. The measure, passed last month by voters in a ballot initiative, also entitles workers to receive pay when they stay home to care for an ill family member. Employers, of course, can continue to offer more generous arrangements voluntarily.

Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress plan to reintroduce a bill with similar provisions in 2007. The bill, a version of which stalled last year under Republican leadership, would require employers of at least 15 workers to provide seven days of paid sick leave to full-time workers, with increments for part-time workers who put in more than 20 hours a week.

But between increased demands on time for tracking employees' hours and the cost of paying for sick time, such a regulation could be prohibitively expensive, some employers say.

"I really think the margin for so many of these small businesses is so low that it doesn't take much to put them over the edge," said Daniel Gardiner, a chiropractor who runs a small clinic in Brooklyn, New York.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the author of the Senate version of the bill, has said he believes paid sick leave is second in importance to working families only to a hike in the minimum wage.

Advocates of the measure say it is not only humane to give workers a break for sickness, but also in the interest of public health. Sick workers spread germs, and many parents send sick children to school because they cannot afford to go a day without pay. Those children can then infect classmates and teachers.

Not all employers are opposed to guaranteed sick leave. For Danielle Glanvill, paying workers when they are sick is a no-brainer. The proprietor of a gourmet grocery in Brooklyn has two full-time employees, whom she pays when they call in sick.

"If my butcher is ill and he took Nyquil, and he's operating machinery, it's better that he takes the day off," she said. "It's better for business if they're in better physical or mental health."

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LESSONS FROM SAN FRANCISCO

The San Francisco law has already yielded some insights into some of the burdens a national sick day entitlement could pose to employers. The hours of part-time employees would need to be recorded to calculate a partial allowance, requiring investments in potentially expensive tracking systems.

Employers of temporary workers may question whether they, or the temp agencies that provided the help, are responsible for the benefit. And those workers who rely on tips or commission may find a paid sick day to be less of a boost.

San Francisco businesses are scrambling to comply, said Theodora Lee, a partner at the law firm Littler Mendelson who has advised the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce on the issue.

"Employers in San Francisco are baffled by this new law," she said. "The law is quite complex and there are yet unanswered questions that really present throbbing headaches for our clients."

According to a 2004 Harvard University study, the United States is nearly alone among developed nations in its lack of a paid sick leave entitlement. The benefit is guaranteed by 139 countries worldwide, and 117 provide a week or more of sick leave. Thirty-seven countries offer paid leave for the care of children.

Another researcher estimated that the San Francisco benefit would cost employers $1.29 a week per private sector worker, but that the added expense would be offset by benefits elsewhere. About 116,000 workers would benefit from the law, out of a total private work force of nearly half a million, it found.

The study, by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, found that savings -- mostly in reduced employee turnover -- would pay back employers, and then some. In all, the study found, private sector workers would save, on average, about 50 cents a week per worker.

Which raises the question: if paid sick leave is in employers' own interests, perhaps what's needed is not a new law, but a better marketing campaign to business owners to convince them to give the benefit voluntarily.

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asap contributor Daniel Sorid is a business reporter for the AP in New York.

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