HPAE Testifies in Support of A3949, Provides Pay for Healthcare Workers in Quarantine or Isolation Due to Infectious Disease
January 15, 2015
Jean Pierce, HPAE Public Policy staff, and Pete Guzzo, HPAE lobbyist, testified today before the Assembly Labor Committee today in support of Assembly bill A3949, sponsored by Assemblyman Dan Benson, which would require hospitals and employers to pay staff who were quarantined or isolated as a result of exposure to contagious or infectious disease.
Since October of 2014, HPAE has worked collaboratively with many of our represented hospitals to develop policies to provide full pay, benefits and the right to return to work after any necessary quarantine. Quarantine of a health or public safety worker protects other workers and our communities. When a worker provides care to patients with infectious disease, they and their families should know that our hospitals will also do everything possible to protect them as well. That protection includes protection from economic harm.