Paid sick days are a fundamental need for working people. Many of us take for granted that we can stay home when we are ill or need to take care of a sick child or elderly parent. But in reality, although all of us get sick, not all of us can afford to get well.

Our analysis of U.S. Labor Department data suggests that 264,200 workers in Maine have no paid sick leave (46 percent of all Maine employees).

When you can’t take time off from work to get well, you are faced with stark choices: stay home and risk losing needed pay or even losing your job, or go to work and risk infecting others and staying sick longer. These are choices that no one should have to make.

It is time for Maine to create 21st century workplaces that promote both productive work environments and healthy families. One example is a current proposal before the Maine Legislature that would guarantee up to nine paid sick days for full-time workers in establishments of 25 or more employees, and a pro-rated number for part-time workers. Such a workplace standard is a critical way to promote a health workforce and a strong Maine economy.

Paid sick days are the first line of defense for public health. When employees come to work sick, they spread disease to their co-workers and to the public. That’s why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that workers with the flu stay home. It has been shown that workers pass their illness on to two out of every ten co-workers on average.

Opponents to a paid sick day standard in Maine argue that it will be an added cost for employers. But our analysis shows that paid sick days actually benefit businesses’ bottom lines by reducing absenteeism, turnover and low productivity.

Fewer workers will be absent because fewer will be catching the flu from sick co-workers. Workers will be more productive because fewer will be sick and sick workers will recover more quickly. And there will be less turnover because workers will not be losing their jobs because they had to miss work for illness.

Replacing workers is very expensive-industry estimates peg it at one-quarter of a worker’s annual compensation, even for low-wage workers. The cost of having a vacant position, advertising for someone new, interviewing and training a replacement, and paying full wages while the employee works up to full productivity is often far greater than the cost of providing short-term leave to retain existing employees.

Many business owners already offer paid sick days because they believe it is the right thing to do, but they fear having to compete with less generous employers. Enacting a new standard for paid sick days would level the economic playing field for all businesses.

Ironically, the industries with the poorest paid sick day policies have the most face-to-face public contact. This is a public health problem for all of us. An estimated 86 percent of food-service workers have no paid sick days. Workers in child-care centers, retail stores, and nursing homes also disproportionately lack paid sick days. That means the people serving your food and taking care of your children and sick parents face pressure to go to work when they are sick, for fear of losing pay or, worse yet, their job.

United States labor laws were written 70 years ago based on a model of fathers with jobs and stay-at-home mothers who could tend to family care giving. These laws have not been changed to reflect a dramatically different workforce. Now, most families require at least two jobs to keep up. The majority of women work and many are single earners. They still carry the responsibility as primary family caregivers, but many lack supportive workplaces that offer paid sick days.

The time for change is now. Public support for paid sick days is strong. In fact, most Americans believe paid sick days are already required by law. However, currently no state or federal law requires workers to be given any paid time off.

With a paid sick day standard, employers will experience savings in reduced absenteeism and turnover, and family members will receive the care they need. The time has come for paid sick days as a basic labor standard.