New Zealand moves to introduce legislation doubling paid sick leave duration News
gonta65 / Pixabay
New Zealand moves to introduce legislation doubling paid sick leave duration

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Monday that New Zealand will extend paid sick leave from five days to 10 days.

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood is to bring the bill to extend paid sick leave to the parliament in the coming weeks. Wood cited difficulties arising from COVID-19 sick leave policies as the primary motivation behind the bill:

Covid-19 has shown how important it is to stay at home when people are sick. We do need to move past the tough-it-out culture. We know businesses benefit too when their staff stay at home when they’re sick – it means bugs don’t spread, leading to fewer absences and increased productivity. Respondents to the 2015 American Working Conditions Survey who reported working while sick estimated that this reduced their productivity by around 20 per cent on average, and an Australian study has found the healthiest workers are up to three times more productive.

The bill is expected to be passed in mid-2021.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Hitler and Nazis attempt failed coup in Beer Hall Putsch

Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party attempted an ill-faited coup in Munich, Germany on November 8, 1923. Instead of seizing power, the conspirators suffered 15 casualties and their leaders were arrested, including Hitler. The future dictator would spend a year in prison as a result, where he would write his infamous Mein Kampf. Learn more about the Beer Hall Putsch.

Oregon legalized physician-assisted suicide

On November 8, 1994, Oregon passed the Death With Dignity Act by voter initiative, becoming the first US state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Read the Death With Dignity Act,

France government opens the Louvre as a public museum

On November 8, 1793, the revolutionary government in France opened the Louvre for the first time as a public museum. Learn more about the history of the Louvre.