by Susan Krehbiel, Director of Congregational Advocacy

Questions about fair pay and the fair treatment of workers have plagued me most of my adult life.  We all want to be treated fairly , most of us would agree that "fairness" is a good thing, and yet we have a much harder time coming to agreement about what is fair in a given situation. 

As a young adult I accepted a job with a small non-profit that prided itself in paying its staff low wages.  They saw this is a statement of solidarity with the working poor around the world.  (It also sold well to donors who could see that we certainly weren't becoming rich off their charitable donations.)  While I agreed with the basic premise, my opinion began to shift when I learned that our wages were so low that we qualified for the community health clinic set up to serve the poor.  I learned this because some of my colleagues went to the clinic for primary care.  It was then that I realized that I could "afford" the job because my income was being subsidized by my husband who had a better paying job and health insurance, and by my parents who gave me many household items that I could not have afforded.  To me, this was inherently unfair:  that someone could work full time, my co-workers, and still struggle in poverty.

In the years -- okay, decades -- since that job, I learned that non-profits weren't the only employers that didn't provide the basic needs of their employees.  Many for-profit employers pay their workers low enough wages that they live at or near poverty.  There is a term for this: Underemployment.  Many of these underemployed are hourly workers who do not get paid time off.  No vacation time.  No time off to go to

Read interfaith statements on Sick Leave

a parent-teacher conference.  No time off to get their car repaired. No time off to go to a doctor's appointment.  Not even time off when they are sick or have a sick child.  People like the restaurant employee who couldn't find a substitute when he was sick with the flu so he went to work anyway and later was hospitalized. Just a few days of lost wages is enough to send these workers to our church food pantries, to social services offices for assistance with rent or utility bills.  The prophet Isaiah reminds us that our labor is also a gift from God:

"They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit . . .  and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord-and their descendants as well." (Isa. 65: 21-23)

For the past four years there has been a growing coalition of churches, social service organizations, workers and some employers, who have come together to advocate for paid sick leave.  700,000 working Marylanders do not have the ability to earn paid sick days.  The Healthy Working Families Act would make it possible for anyone working for an employer with 15 or more employees to earn paid sick leave.  The Maryland legislature came close to passing this law this year.  In fact, the House of Delegates passed the bill by wide margins, only for it to be stuck in the Senate Finance committee.  (See which legislators supported the bill.)

Some employers claim that they can't afford to provide paid sick leave.  While other employers have shown that truly valuing their employees, encouraging them to take care of themselves, to be good parents and members of their communities turns out to be "good for business" too.  For me, it is still a question of fairness and human dignity.  Everyone gets sick.  Everyone deserves sick leave. 

It's only fair.

Learn more about the Presbytery's position on sick leave and employment. Read Presbyterian Social Policy and Employment.