Coronavirus exposes sick leave gap for retail, restaurant workers

California’s hiring boom in the low-paying restaurant and service sectors could have unintended consequences in boosting the spread of the coronavirus.
More than 2 million service workers in the state handle food, merchandise, clean hotel rooms and care for children. They scrape by every year on three days of state-required sick time, forcing workers to choose between wages and time recovering at home.
Statewide the number of people in the low-paying leisure and hospitality industries has