Two leading members of Congress . . . will team up to write a bill that would provide paid time off for workers who contract the H1N1 flu.

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and chair of the Senate health subcommittee on children and families, announced at a hearing this week that he and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) intend to formally introduce the legislation in coming weeks.

He and DeLauro portrayed paid sick leave as the best way for workers to follow government directives to stay home if they fall ill.

. . . Dr. Anne Schuchat, assistant surgeon general and an official at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), testified that the CDC advises people to stay home from work for three to five days if they come down with swine flu.

The organization encourages employers to institute flexible leave policies “so it’s easy for your employees to do the right thing,” Schuchat said.

But DeLauro argued that 57 million workers lack paid sick days and “following this critical advice is virtually impossible for far too many Americans right now.”

. . . A hearing witness representing the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), however, cautioned that the bill poses potential burdens for companies.

“SHRM has strong concerns with the one-size-fits-all mandate encompassed in the Healthy Families Act,” said Elissa O’Brien, vice president of human resources at Wingate Healthcare. “At a time when employers are facing unprecedented challenges, imposing a costly paid leave mandate on employers could easily result in additional job loss or cuts in other important employee benefits.”

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