2020年经济学人 巴托比职场专栏--重新思考如何对待生病的员工(1)（在线收听）

Business

来源于《商业》版块

Bartleby

巴托比职场专栏

In sickness and in health

不论生病还是健康

Rethinking attitudes towards employee illness

重新思考对待员工疾病的态度

The global spread of covid-19 has led to calls for those who might be infected with the new disease to “self-isolate” at home. That could prove a threat to economic activity. It also represents a terrible dilemma for workers, some of whom could face financial hardship if they don’t turn up.

covid-19在全球范围内的传播，导致人们呼吁那些可能感染这种新疾病的人在家里“自我隔离”。这可能对经济活动构成威胁。这对工人来说也是一个可怕的困境，如果他们不来上班，其中一些人可能会面临经济困难。

The quandary is all the greater when the disease is unfamiliar, with symptoms that are often mild, at first, and resemble common ailments. And if, like a quarter of all Americans working in the private sector, employees get no paid sick leave at all, they are more likely to take the risk and attend. In 2009 the outbreak of swine flu presented workers with a similar decision. Many American ones decided to turn up for work regardless, further spreading the infection. One study estimated that around 7m coworkers were infected as a result.

当患者不熟悉这种疾病时，他们的困惑就更大了，因为这种疾病的症状往往在一开始是轻微的，与常见疾病类似。如果像四分之一在私企工作的美国人一样，员工根本没有带薪病假，那么他们就更有可能冒险去上班。2009年，猪流感的爆发时，工人们做出了类似的决定。许多美国人决定不顾一切去上班，进一步传播了病毒。一项研究估计，大约有700万名同事因此受到感染。

The most recent global survey of sick pay by the International Labour Organisation, from 2010, showed that 145 countries provided for paid sick leave at the time. Most mandated replacement pay of around 50-75% of wages. More than 100 allowed employees to be absent for a month or more.

国际劳工组织从2010年开始对病假薪酬进行的最新全球调查显示，当时有145个国家提供了带薪病假。大多数规定的替代工资约为工资的50-75%。超过100名员工被允许旷工一个月或更长时间。

The fear of employers and governments is that generous benefits will be costly and create the temptation for employees to malinger. It is true that Britain and America, which have stingy (if any) benefits, see almost no days of absence, on average. But most countries with generous benefits experience fewer than ten days a year of absence. Based on OECD data from 2017 the gap between annual days lost to sickness in France, where 50-100% of income is replaced during sick leave, and in America was a mere 4.4 days.

雇主和政府担心的是，慷慨的福利将是昂贵的，并为雇员创造了诱惑。的确，英国和美国(如果有的话)在福利上很吝啬，但他们平均几乎没有休假的天数。但是，大多数享有慷慨福利的国家每年的缺勤天数少于10天。根据经合组织2017年的数据，法国每年因病损失的天数与美国相差仅4.4天，法国每年因病损失的天数中有50%至100%是在病假期间弥补的。

Other evidence does not suggest that more generous sick pay leads to extra skiving. The Earned Sick Time Act became law in New York in 2014. A survey of 352 employers four years ago found that almost 85% had experienced no increase in costs and only 3% had suffered more than a token rise. Connecticut adopted similar legislation in 2011 in the face of opposition from business lobbies. A study of companies in 2013 found that many noted benefits such as improved morale and fewer infections in the workplace.

并没有其他证据证明，更慷慨的病假工资会导致额外的翘班。2014年，“带薪病假法案”在纽约成为法律。四年前对352名雇主的调查发现，近85%的雇主没有经历过成本增加，只有3%的雇主经历过象征性上涨。2011年，康涅狄格州在商业游说团体的反对下通过了类似的法案。2013年的一项对公司的研究发现，许多公司都注意到了一些好处，比如提高了士气，减少了工作场所的感染。