TY - JOUR AU - Ahmed, Faruque AU - Kim, Sara AU - Nowalk, Mary Patricia AU - King, Jennifer AU - VanWormer, Jeffrey AU - Gaglani, Manjusha AU - Zimmerman, Richard AU - Bear, Todd AU - Jackson, Michael AU - Jackson, Lisa AU - Martin, Emily AU - Cheng, Caroline AU - Flannery, Brendan AU - Chung, Jessie AU - Uzicanin, Amra T1 - Paid Leave and Access to Telework as Work Attendance Determinants during Acute Respiratory Illness, United States, 2017–2018 T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2020 VL - 26 IS - 1 SP - 26 SN - 1080-6059 AB - We assessed determinants of work attendance during the first 3 days after onset of acute respiratory illness (ARI) among workers 19–64 years of age who had medically attended ARI or influenza during the 2017–2018 influenza season. The total number of days worked included days worked at the usual workplace and days teleworked. Access to paid leave was associated with fewer days worked overall and at the usual workplace during illness. Participants who indicated that employees were discouraged from coming to work with influenza-like symptoms were less likely to attend their usual workplace. Compared with workers without a telework option, those with telework access worked more days during illness overall, but there was no difference in days worked at the usual workplace. Both paid leave benefits and business practices that actively encourage employees to stay home while sick are necessary to reduce the transmission of ARI and influenza in workplaces. KW - acute respiratory illness KW - influenza KW - pandemics KW - sick leave KW - sick days KW - illness days KW - productivity KW - telecommute KW - organizational policy KW - viruses KW - United States KW - telework KW - paid leave KW - work attendance DO - 10.3201/eid2601.190743 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/1/19-0743_article ER - End of Reference