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.