Paid sick leave as disease prevention

Taylor Thomas — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 17:18:24 +0000

Paid sick leave as disease prevention Taylor Thomas Tue, 02/03/2026 - 12:18

In This Story

Key Takeaways:

New research from the �鶹��Ƶ College of Public Health suggests paid sick leave should be understood not only as an employee benefit, but as a preventive public health intervention.
Among home service workers who regularly enter private homes, such as home nurses and aides and appliance repair technicians, researchers found that stress and perceived infection risk rise before a confirmed diagnosis, when workers must decide whether to stay home sick or risk losing income.
When paid sick leave is unavailable, those pressures compound. The George �鶹��Ƶ study links lack of paid sick leave to higher job stress and lower job satisfaction, effects that ripple beyond individual workers into public health.

Photo via Freepik.

Home service workers—those who provide care, inspections, or repairs inside private homes—can often lack paid sick leave, making illness a direct financial risk. New research from �鶹��Ƶ College of Public Health suggests paid sick leave should be understood not only as an employee benefit, but as a preventive health intervention.

In the study led by assistant nursing professor Suyoung Kwon, paid sick leave was linked to lower perceived infection risk, reduced job stress, and higher job satisfaction. During the early months of COVID-19, the research team surveyed more than 1,600 home service workers in South Korea, including home nurses, childcare workers, appliance repair technicians, and gas meter inspectors.

Notably, workers reported that their highest level of stress was not after a confirmed diagnosis of COVID, but during the window when workers are deciding whether to show up sick or stay home.

“Paid sick leave can function much like personal protective equipment or vaccination for workers in high-contact roles,” said Kwon. “It reduces exposure before harm occurs.”

The study was published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Study findings

Workers with paid sick leave reported significantly lower perceived risk of COVID-19 exposure than those with unpaid leave or no leave at all.
Higher perceived risk of infection was associated with greater job stress, which in turn predicted lower job satisfaction. Paid sick leave interrupted that chain.
Workers with no access to sick leave experienced both direct and indirect drops in job satisfaction, suggesting compounded harms when workers lack any safety net.

Why it matters

Many home service workers enter multiple private homes each day. When paid sick leave is available only after a documented diagnosis (like a positive test for COVID-19), workers face a high-stakes choice during their most contagious period: lose income or risk exposing others.

The researchers contend that paid sick leave should be treated as a preventive mechanism that allows workers to stay home when symptoms first appear—before diagnosis or transmission. As policymakers revisit pandemic lessons and prepare for future public health emergencies, this study suggests that expanding paid sick leave is not only a worker protection, but a population-level prevention strategy.

Topics

Laura Poms, PhD

admin_alpha — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 23:27:01 +0000

Laura Poms, PhD admin_alpha Tue, 10/20/2015 - 19:27

Professor
Director of �鶹��Ƶ Core

Contact Information

Email: lpoms@gmu.edu

CV

Download Laura Poms curriculum vitae (CV) here.

Personal Websites

ORCID

Biography

Laura Wheeler Poms is the Director of �鶹��Ƶ Core, �鶹��Ƶ’s general education program and a Professor in Global and Community Health in �鶹��Ƶ’s College of Public Health. In addition to overseeing the day-to-day operations of the �鶹��Ƶ Core program, she collaborates with faculty across the university to develop, revise, and assesses courses in the �鶹��Ƶ Core portfolio.

Her research interests include the scholarship of teaching and learning, with an emphasis on student self-efficacy, active learning, and STEM education. She is the co-author of Understanding Epidemiology, now in its third edition, which is one of the only textbooks specifically designed to teach epidemiology to undergraduate students. She was a �鶹��Ƶ Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning faculty fellow, working with colleagues to implement active learning strategies in STEM courses. She also served as an Office of Scholarship, Creative Activities and Research (OSCAR) faculty fellow, working on curriculum development and assessment at the University level.

Honors and Awards

Shirley B. Travis Habit of Excellence Award, 2021, College of Health and Human Services, �鶹��Ƶ
Teaching Excellence Award, 2018, �鶹��Ƶ
Master Teacher Award, 2016, College of Health and Human Services, �鶹��Ƶ
Graduate Public Health Award, 2011, College of Health and Human Services, �鶹��Ƶ

Degrees

PhD, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, �鶹��Ƶ
MPH, Epidemiology, �鶹��Ƶ
MA, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, �鶹��Ƶ
MA, Public Communication, The American University
BA, Psychology, The College of William and Mary