In 2009 the Fat Duck, Heston Blumenthal’s chic-chic restaurant in Bray, UK, was the source of a norovirus outbreak that led to over 500 illnesses. According to health official investigators, the initial source of contamination was raw oysters from a less-than-reputable harvest bed.

Investigators found that things got worse and the outbreak continued for at least six weeks (between January 6 and February 22) because of ongoing transmission at the restaurant- through continuous contamination of foods prepared by ill food workers.

In 2006, a Carrabba’s restaurant in Michigan had its own you-should-have-stayed-home-because-you-are-sick moment.  At least 364 restaurant patrons became ill with norovirus after eating meals prepared by employees who had reported to work while ill. According to the CDC’s report on this outbreak:

"Vomiting by a line cook at the work station might have contributed to transmission … Because of the open physical layout of the restaurant, no barrier impeded airborne spread of the virus from the kitchen to the main dining area."

Yummy.

According to a New York Times blog post, there’s a recent poll on that demonstrates what happens (at least self-reported) in the absence of paid sick days.

The survey found that 55 percent of respondents who said they were not eligible for paid sick days said they had at some point gone to work with a contagious illness like the flu or a viral infection, compared with 37 percent who said they received paid sick days.

Paid sick days are a touchy issue in the foodservice industry because the threat of abuse of the benefit. If I ran a restaurant I’d want to have some mechanism in place to encourage self-reporting of illness so I could get the individual away from the meals I’m trying to sell.