The Human Right to Paid Sick Leave: How the United States and New York City Fail Low-Income Women of Color

Paid sick leave - the right to paid time off when a worker is too ill to work or to enable a worker to care for an ill family member - is enshrined under human rights law. Yet the United States fails its people in not mandating the human right to paid sick leave in its policies. This briefing aims to provide policy makers and advocates with an overview of: 1) the current situation in the United States and the disparities suffered by low-income women of color; 2) relevant human rights standards to advance this issue of economic and social justice; 3) recommendations and models to implement a paid sick leave policy on the local, state, and/or national level, and; 4) how the popular demand for paid sick leave policies override the minimal costs of implementation.