Mass. State workers feverishly taking sick time...as pol pushes for reform in private sector

The Boston Herald reports:

The nauseating number of state employees banging in ill is compelling one Bay State politician to call for a probe just as the Legislature is set to take up a controversial first-in-the-nation sick-time policy for the private sector.

State Rep. Kay Khan said the clock is ticking on her bill mandating seven paid sick days for everyone - and state workers calling in sick in high numbers is an ill-timed irony.

“It sounds like something that needs to be investigated, certainly if we’re pushing to get this done in the private sector,” said Khan (D-Newton), after being told of the sick-time tally by the Herald yesterday.

“We need more fairness across the board,” she said, adding her bill is in the House Ways and Means Committee and could be up for a vote this week before the legislative session ends Saturday.

A Herald investigation of state worker sick-day use shows executive branch employees averaged 8.1 days a year in 2009 - and are on pace to equal that this year. But many call in sick more than that

Who's to say , in the future, Massachusetts will not mandate 20 sick days or 57 sick days? We need to return to the Lochner era.