Sick leave: Should it be mandatory?

When I was pregnant, a co-worker who sat near me got sick. Bless him: It wasn't a serious illness, but he took a sick day to keep from spreading it. And that meant a lot to me: The last thing I wanted at that point was to have a head cold and nothing I could take to relieve it.

Sadly, my co-worker is a relatively rare breed. According to a new study, nearly half of Arizona workers have no access to sick time. If they want to stay home -- and spare the rest of us from getting their gunk -- they have to go without pay (and in some cases, risk punishment for being absent) to do it.

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

The group that produced the report -- the National Partnership for Women and Families -- is using the data to push for laws that force employers to provide time off for workers to take care of themselves or their family members. Democratic state Rep. Richard Andrade introduced a bill last year that would have required Arizona businesses to offer no more than 72 hours of sick pay. It went nowhere.

RELATED: 5 things they don't tell you about maternity leave

That's not surprising: Like minimum wage and maternity leave, the sick pay debate is generally split on partisan lines. Republicans view the time off as a potentially costly benefit that's best left to employers to provide; Democrats say it's a question of public health and that government must step in to offer what the private market refuses.

WHY SHOULD I CARE?

A study in the Harvard Business Review estimated that people showing up sick to work (they call it "presenteeism") costs businesses more than $150 billion a year. Other studies have estimated that presenteeism costs businesses anywhere from 20 percent to 60 percent of their total health-care costs. That's significant.

Additional research shows that white-color workers are more likely to have sick time than lower-income blue-collar workers. But a lot of white-collar workers don't use it. Some still show up at work sick because they feel like they have too much to do to justify a day off.

SO, WHERE'S THIS HEADED?

Despite arguments that mandated sick pay would hold down wages, other research suggests those concerns are overblown. And the work world is changing. More businesses are hiring people as independent contractors, leaving them ineligible for company health plans and benefits. Young workers also place happiness and rest a lot higher on their list of necessities than salary or position.

At some point, businesses are going to have to give on paid sick leave, and more than likely, it's going to take a government push to make it happen. But don't expect lawmakers to do it without a big shove from their constituents. How quickly that happens depends on how long it takes workers to find their voice.