Paid Sick Days as Public Health Policy: Understanding the perspectives of Precarious Workers and Public Health Physicians to strengthen partnerships and influence population health

The importance of a strong public health sector has been made clear throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health is a field that aims to improve the health of populations in many ways. In addition to managing outbreaks, public health is increasingly focused on determinants of health, such as work conditions, income, and immigration status, as well as structural factors such as racism and colonialism. However, during the pandemic, many public health measures required/recommended individual actions without the system level changes needed to support those actions. For example, requiring isolation when many people were unable to do so without housing supports. As the pandemic progressed, it became clear that some public health measures were not as effective as they could have been because of long-standing social and economic inequities. Many people were unable to follow measures that put the burden of responsibility on the individual. For example, workers who were income-deprived, racialized, and/or lacked immigration status were at far higher risk of acquiring COVID-19 infection and often lacked key labour protections, such as paid sick days. To overcome this disconnect between public health measures and the realities of many peoples' lives, new approaches that establish stronger connections between public health and precarious workers are needed. This is key to achieving more effective and equitable public health measures. The objective of this research is to examine perspectives of precarious workers and Public Health physicians related to the necessity and feasibility of paid sick days as a public health measure during the COVID-19 pandemic. By understanding how public health can more effectively influence policies through working in solidarity with community labour justice organizers, there will be an anticipated impact of stronger cross-sectoral relationships, improved public health policies, and ultimately, better population health.