Introduced by Rep. Miller

• The Emergency Influenza Containment Act, HR 3991, was introduced November 3, 2009 by Rep. George Miller, a California Democrat. It was referred to the House Education and Labor Committee, which referred it on December 8, 2009 to the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, where it remains.
  
  

Leave Limited to Five Days

• The law required employers to provide paid sick leave, either a partial or full day, if the employee was told to leave work or not come into work because he had symptoms of a contagious disease or was in close contact with someone who did. The paid leave was limited to five days a year.
  
  

Employees Couldn't Be Fired

• The act also prohibited employers from terminating, disciplining or otherwise discriminating against employees who complied with it, filed a complaint under it or testified in a complaint hearing. Violation of the act would be considered similar to failing to pay minimum wage as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and subject to the same penalties.