Business Briefing: 44 percent of Illinois workers cannot earn paid sick days

More than 2.1 million wage earners in Illinois work without paid sick days, but a workers advocacy group is trying to change that.

In response, the National Partnership for Women & Families is backing the Healthy Families Act, which calls on Congress to establish a standard of seven paid sick days each year for all wage earners.

According to data compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau, almost 44 percent of workers in Illinois are not able to earn sick days. Almost 430,000 of them are restaurant employees, an industry that does not provide paid sick days to 90 percent of employees nationwide.

Health-care and social service agencies are the largest industries in Illinois, and more than a quarter of those workers across the country do not receive paid sick time.

Nationally, more than 43 million private sector workers, or almost 40 percent of the country’s workforce, cannot earn paid sick days.

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Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has reported a $192 million drop — an almost 10 percent decline — in second-quarter profits. Analysts site the strong U.S. dollar has cut into the tire company’s international sales. Read more here.

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MasterCard Inc. has also recorded a decrease in second-quarter profits. The credit card company reported a 1 percent decrease during the quarter and the $2.39 billion revenue was below the $2.42 billion that analysts had forecast. Learn more here.

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Pacific Gas & Electric Co. beat Wall Street expectations with a recorded $406 million in earnings during the second quarter. The San Francisco-based company also reported a profit of 83 cents per share. Find out more here.

— Will Buss, BND business reporter

This story was originally published July 29, 2015 at 9:32 AM with the headline "Business Briefing: 44 percent of Illinois workers cannot earn paid sick days."