Prevention Matters

Seventy-one percent of American workers admit they go to work when they are ill because they fear losing their jobs or are too busy to take a break, a national online poll conducted by job-search Web site Monster.com has found. It's a statistic that gives one pause at a time when Americans are worried about a flu pandemic.

That concern is compounded by a separate report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research showing that, unlike most every developed country, America doesn't guarantee its workers paid sick days. "The U.S. is the only country among 22 countries ranked highly in terms of conomic and human development that does not guarantee that workers receive paid sick days or paid sick leave," write the authors. "Under current U.S. labor law, employers are not required to provide short-term paid sick days or longer-term paid sick leave."