For too many hardworking people, paid sick leave is a privilege, not a right. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, more than 40 percent of private-sector workers in the United States do not have access to paid sick leave. In addition, employees without paid sick days are disproportionately low-wage workers; the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that about 66 percent of civilian workers in the bottom quarter of wage earners do not have paid sick leave, compared with just 13 percent in the top quarter.