“As a small business owner, I support having paid sick days for my workers. Healthy workers make productive workers, and my business will be much stronger if my employees are able to take the time they need to recuperate from illness without worrying about the effect taking a day off will have on their income.  It also will help me create a healthier, germ-free workplace and better serve the customers who come to my deli. This makes good business sense to me.”
-- Marco Reinoso, owner of Superstar Deli in Bushwick, Brooklyn

 “As business owners, we fulfill our societal duties by offering good working conditions. I understand the risk that not being able to contain …transmittable diseases has on the whole community. The lack of paid sick days is a factor that can hinder a proper epidemic strategy, not to mention the emotional and economic costs that it can have on families.”
-- Freddy Castiblanco, owner of La Terraza 7 Train Café in Elmhurst, Queens

“Getting sick or having to deal with a family illness is never good for anybody, but denying it does not make it go away. At the end of the day, we all know that critical mistakes are made when people are sick or distracted.  Paid sick days allow employees the ability to make better decisions about their work capability and in the long term will be healthier and more productive—it is good for our businesses and our city.”  (www.intracommunities.org)
-- Carolyn Sevos, President of IntraCommunities, Inc.

“I’ve worked in restaurants in New York City for 16 years. One time, when I was working as a cook at the Cheyenne Diner, I was so sick I couldn’t even speak. I had a high fever for a week, but I still went into work during that time. I was working as a cook, and was directly handling food for consumption. I couldn’t take time off to go to the doctor. My co-worker had some pills. I still don’t know what they were. He told me to take them, and I did because I was desperate. They made me even worse. But I kept working. The manager could see I was sick, but didn’t care. At my last job I ended up losing my job for calling in sick. I was extremely sick with a fever. I called my manger and she told me that if I didn’t come in, that there wouldn’t be a job for me anymore, but I was so sick that I physically couldn’t get myself there. And that’s how I lost my job.”
-- Saul Lopez, a restaurant worker from Corona, Queens