February 11, 2013 Liz Borkowski, MPH 2Comment

Celeste and I have an op-ed in the Washington Post’s local opinion section about DC’s paid sick leave law, which contains an exception that’s especially problematic during flu season: it doesn’t cover tipped restaurant workers. Read “Your meal shouldn’t come with a side of the flu” at the Washington Post’s site.

And if you want to eat at restaurants where workers have paid sick days (and other benefits many of us take for granted), check out the Restaurant Opportunities Center’s 2013 Dining Guide, or download the accompanying iPhone or Android app for your city.

2 thoughts on “Our Washington Post local op-ed: DC meals shouldn’t come with a side of the flu

  1. Wonderful op-ed; congratulations! Is there any chance you guys will be attending the “Selling Sickness: People before Profit” conference next week in DC? I would love to get an account of it from some worker health advocates and single-payer supporters.

  2. In response to the law recently passed in Seattle that employers must allow workers to earn sick leave, one cafe owner posted a sign at the registers that he was charging an extra 1.5% to pay for the sick leave. He stated to local press that he’d never needed sick leave before, and he didn’t want his staff taking it now. I was stunned that this guy thinks so little of both his workers and his customers that he would want sick people to come in and sneeze (or whatever) all over people’s coffee and sandwiches.

    If I get sick, even if I don’t know where, I don’t go our to buy coffee or lunch until I’m better. How are few customers a good thing?

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