4.3 million Texan workers don’t get paid sick leave, report finds

Photo: Kirk McKoy, Los Angeles Times Stay home if you're sick. That's the advice from the nation's top...

AUSTIN — An estimated 4.3 million Texans who make up roughly 40 percent of the state’s workforce don't have access to paid sick days, raising the likelihood they show up to the job ill or let sick children go to school, according to a new report from an advocacy group.

Hispanic, low-income and part-time workers in Texas are the least likely to be able to accrue paid sick leave, according to the report by the Center for Public Policy Priorities. Also certain jobs, including food service, construction, farming, fishing, and forestry, are less likely to provide workers that benefit, the report said.

“Earning paid sick days allows workers to earn paid time off to tend to their own or a family member’s health needs,” the report said. “A lack of access to this basic employment standard forces Texans to make an impossible choice between recovering from an illness or losing wages and potentially being fired.”

GOVERNOR'S BATTLE: Abbott takes aim at mandated paid sick leave

Austin became the first city in the state to adopt a mandatory paid sick leave policy, set to take effect for most private employers in October. But it’s being challenged in court, and recently, Attorney General Ken Paxton threw the state’s backing behind the lawsuit.

“The Austin City Council’s disdain and blatant disregard for the rule of law is an attempt to unlawfully and inappropriately usurp the authority of the state lawmakers chosen by Texas voters and must be stopped,” Paxton said in a statement at the end of April.

An estimated 39 percent of workers in San Antonio and 41 percent in Dallas don’t have access to paid sick leave, the report said. Campaigns are under way in both cities to get sick-leave initiatives on the ballot.

VIEWPOINT: Paid sick leave improves whole community's health

No federal law requires employers to provide paid sick leave. But at least 10 states and Washington D.C. have such a policy on the books, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Allie Morris is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | amorris@express-news.net | @MorrisReports