It’s unfortunate, but many working adults must sometimes choose between their health and their job. Not everyone has the luxury of paid sick leave, but U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, is trying to ensure that changes.

Brown recently introduced the Healthy Families Act, which would allow workers to earn up to 56 hours of paid sick time, which means for every 30 hours worked, they earn one hour of paid time. Uses for this time can include recovering from an illness or caring for a family member who is sick as well as using the time for planned events such as preventative treatment from a doctor.

Businesses with less than 15 employees would be exempt and employers that currently have sick leave policies in place would not have to change them unless they did not fit the requirements of the act.

The idea behind the proposed act is a common sense solution that would allow workers the ability to heal from illness without infecting their coworkers and the public, as well as allow workers to take care of their sick children, rather than sending them to daycare or school.

Working adults should not have to worry about losing their paycheck just because they get sick. Providing sick days would go a long way to promoting healthy work environments and over time has the potential to save in health care costs and lost productivity.

It just makes sense that everyone should be able to heal without the threat of unemployment.