Sneezing, Coughing, Runny Nose, Fever - but Still Working? (#sickdays)

Swine flu or no swine flu, when you or your family are sick, you need to be able to stay home. That holds doubly true for employees who work with vulnerable populations in nursing homes, day cares, and other health care sites, as well as employees who work with food.

Yet in Pennsylvania, 46 percent of all workers laid paid sick days, preventing these workers from staying home to recover.

Tonight, the House of Representatives will hold a Special Order to talk about the need for sick time (you can watch it on C-SPAN!!) and next week the Healthy Families Act, which allows workers to earn up to 7 days of paid sick time per year, will be re-introduced.

In Pennsylvania, Representative Allyson Schwartz and Representative Bob Brady have already signed on, as has Senator Bob Casey (feel free to call them to say thanks!). But some of the representatives who cosponsored the bill in the past from Pennsylvania need to hear from you about the importance of earned sick time.

In Pennsylvania, you can call or email the following legislators and say:

"Thank you for your previous support of the Healthy Families Act. Sick time is incredibly important to me and my family, and I am calling/writing today to ask you to sign on to cosponsor this important bill." If you have a story about sick time, share it with the staffer, and with us!

• Rep. Michael Doyle, PA-14
• Rep. Chaka Fattah, PA-2
• Rep. Joe Sestak, PA-7

If your legislator hasn't signed on in the past, you can still call today and ask for his or her cosponsorship! Just find your legislator's contact information and explain what earned sick time means to you.