The only way to prevent the spread of the H1N1 flu virus is to keep it to yourself. So if you're sick, call off work. And, unless your symptoms are so severe that medical attention is required, follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's advice and hole up at home until 24 hours after your fever has broken.

But, for workers with no paid sick leave and bills to pay, that's easier said than done. And for employees who risk losing their jobs if they miss work, it's impossible.

The lack of sick leave is a sore seeking a salve. No one should have to choose between a full paycheck and the public's health, because the public will lose every time. But it's a decision that millions of Americans face.

According to employee compensation surveys conducted this spring by the U.S. Department of Labor, 34 percent of U.S. workers do not receive paid sick leave. For part-time workers, 72 percent live without this most-minimal benefit. And, among the bottom 25 percent of workers ranked by wages, including many in the service sector where contact with the public is a given, only 37 percent receive paid sick leave.

Fortunately there's a growing awareness, heightened by the H1N1 outbreak, that what's good for the employee who lacks sick benefits is not good for the uninfected masses.

The U.S. Senate Health Committee will convene an H1N1 preparedness hearing this fall, and mandatory sick leave will be discussed.

Legislation to that effect has 109 sponsors in the U.S. House and 21 in the Senate. The Healthy Families Act would mandate that employees of firms with 15 or more workers receive an hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked.

At least three cities -- San Francisco, Milwaukee and Washington -- have laws on the books requiring employers to provide sick benefits. And at least 15 states -- Utah not included -- are pondering similar statutes.

It's probably too late to put sick leave laws in place to curb the current H1N1 pandemic. But it's not too late to appeal to employers who don't offer sick leave to make an exception for H1N1, for the sake of their employees, for the sake of their customers, and for the sake of us all.

And, if you do come down with the flu and you're lucky enough to have paid sick days at your disposal, then by all means use them.

Your infectious personality may be missed by your employer and your co-workers, but your infectious body certainly will not.