Brown, an Ohio Democrat, said he plans to introduce a bipartisan bill, the Healthy Families Act, requiring all employers with 15 employees or more to provide sick leave to workers. This would allow them to stay home when they’re ill, instead of coming to work and infecting other people.

Brown, who has pushed for similar bills in the past, told Ohio reporters the current flu epidemic is helping to get his point across — everyone is better off if sick people stay home until they’re well again.