We’ve all heard the heartwarming tales of employees from a company stepping up to donate their leave to coworkers battling cancer.
The media paints an uplifting picture. The favorite colleague fights a horrific battle, but with everyone’s help, they push through. They beat cancer while being able to pay their bills, maintain their healthcare, and keep their job.
But if you pause to think critically about it, you realize it’s not heartwarming at all.
It’s horrific.
Leave donation stories really aren’t the “feel-good” fantasy the media reports.
What is Leave Donation?
In the United States, many companies offer leave donation programs that allow employees to donate their accrued paid time off to a coworker in need.
People rely on donated leave to seek treatment for severe illnesses like cancer and to recover from accidents. It’s even used to help care for sick family members.
Although to Americans, it seems like a nice perk and great way to help teammates in need, it’s only popular (and necessary) because the US lacks worker protections and universal healthcare.
Leave Donation Programs Highlight America’s Problems
The fact that employees have to give up their hard-earned leave to support a colleague is symptomatic of the massive issues inherent in American society:
- No Paid Time Off for Medical Issues
- Health Insurance Tied to Work
- Outrageous Cost of Healthcare
No Paid Time Off
People must donate their leave because the US doesn’t offer paid sick leave. In fact, it’s one of the only industrialized nations in the world that doesn’t mandate some type of paid time off for people who are sick.
Companies can simply fire people who don’t show up to work, even if they’re facing massive health problems.
FMLA Doesn’t Cut It
Okay, the US does have something. There’s the FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act), which, in theory, protects workers with health problems.
But it doesn’t work in practice.
The FMLA doesn’t mandate paid leave, only unpaid. So if you use it, you might be able to keep your job, but good luck paying your bills.
Second, it only offers twelve weeks (unpaid, of course), which isn’t enough when you’re in the battle of your life.
And third, it exempts small companies, meaning millions of American workers have no coverage at all.
Insurance Tied to Work
But it’s not just the fact that you can get fired for getting sick (which is already atrocious).
To make matters worse, the US government’s insurance system is tied to employment. So, if you get sick and lose your job, you also lose your health insurance.
So not only can you not take time off to be sick or recover, but you also can’t take time off because you need to keep your job to keep your insurance to pay for your treatments.
Outrageous Cost of Healthcare
Our private healthcare system is one of the most expensive in the world. Medical bankruptcy is one of the top forms of bankruptcy in the United States.
It costs hundreds of dollars for simple procedures like X-rays and MRIs, and tens of thousands of dollars for overnight stays, childbirth, or operations. Cancer patients can rack up millions in medical bills.
If someone loses their health insurance because they got sick and lost their job, they won’t be able to pay for the treatments they desperately need to survive.
Evil Corporations Force Leave Donations
Even without mandates, the fact that employees must donate leave to help their coworkers through trying times showcases how evil many corporations are.
Most could actually afford to keep paying employees while they’re struggling with an illness; they choose not to. These multimillion-dollar entities would rather force other employees to pay for it than pick up the tab themselves.
In addition, many would just as soon fire someone dealing with a medical emergency as keep them on the books.
A sick employee not working simply takes up valuable space on the books, and cutting them loose is more profitable.
Our profits-before-people model encourages this type of unscrupulous behavior. And it’s all perfectly legal.
It Shouldn’t Be on the Company
Of course, companies are only in business for one reason, and that’s to make a profit.
Though I mentioned multi-million-dollar corporations above, America bursts with small businesses. Most of these can’t afford to retain and pay sick employees.
It’s not a company’s responsibility to care for the populace, even their own employees.
That doesn’t change the fact that it’s unethical to fire sick employees, but we’re putting the burden on companies because the entity that should care for the people is neglecting its responsibility.
It’s the Government’s Responsibility
The government’s ultimate responsibility is to its people.
A good government should ensure that sick people don’t become destitute. It should provide for those who can’t provide for themselves, and it should enact regulations to ensure that companies with money don’t treat laborers without money unfairly.
The US government fails in all regards.
People Can’t Afford To Get Sick
The outrageous cost of healthcare coupled with the lack of paid time off for medical care means people in the US can’t afford to get sick.
They can’t afford treatment in general, and they can’t afford to skip work to seek treatment.
As a result, we have a sicker populace and more deaths from preventable causes.
We Pretend It’s Normal
And the worst part is that we pretend it’s normal. We celebrate leave donation like it’s some heartwarming feel-good story, rather than a necessity.
We demand that the people share their limited time off to care for coworkers rather than expect billion-dollar corporations or governments to foot the bill.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Is the US the Best?
If the United States can’t even care for its people when they’re at their worst, how can we call ourselves the best country in the world?
Every other country has enacted policies and regulations that protect the most vulnerable.
America needs to catch up.