A bit of good news for those of you who are among the many Americans whose employers don't offer sick days: there are a few pieces of legislation that have been introduced over the last few months to try to rectify that.

The most recent one – just tabled last week – is the Emergency Influenza Containment Act, temporary legislation that would provide up to five paid sick days for full- or part-timers who have been sent home or have been ordered to remain home by their employer because of a contagious illness, such as H1N1.

The bill isn't perfect, though....There are some obvious loopholes that could negate the whole point of having the law in the first place (read the article to find out more). The House Education and Labor Committee is supposed to hold a hearing on the legislation during the week of November 16.

There's also the Healthy Families Act (originally introduced in 2005 and then re-introduced this year), which, if passed, would require businesses with 15 or more employees to provide up to seven days of paid sick leave each year.

If you live in San Francisco, Milwaukee or Washington, D.C., you're in luck: those cities already have laws requiring paid sick leave.

I must say, though: all of this is fine, as long as you don't have a boss who would threaten or bully you, even in subtle ways, because you chose to stay at home sick and not spread your germs. Unfortunately, I've already had a few readers write in and tell me some of their horror stories (which, frankly, made me ill).

Seriously, if employers expect workers to never get sick, or to come into work and function at 100 percent when they've got the flu, why don't they just hire robots? Seems as though that's all they want (at least some of them).

After my post last week about the importance of staying at home if you're ill, one of my readers pointed out to me that he can't take sick days because he doesn't actually get any.

I did a little digging and found out that, in fact, something like 40 percent of the private-sector workforce in the U.S. is unable to take paid leave without notifying their employer in advance. Of those who do get sick leave, some are punished for taking it by receiving "demerit points" every time they miss a day. Accumulation of a certain number of points could result in termination in some companies.

Workers earning wages on the lower end of the scale tend to be the most affected – they have to choose between staying at home and not spreading germs, or coming into work even if they're contagious so they can make this month's rent, pay for groceries, or even keep their job.

But temp workers and independent contractors, including those working in the IT field, are also affected, as employers are not obligated to offer sick days or other benefits to those workers either.

I'm curious: How many of you who are working in the technology field are not entitled to paid sick leave? And of those of you who are able to take time off due to illness, are you discouraged from doing so?

If you're a new IT grad, you've probably realized this already: finding a job these days can be really tough. You've got your lack of on-the-job experience working against you, and there are a whole lot of other out-of-work but seasoned IT pros out there who may be vying for the same position you are, even if it represents a step down for them.

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU) recently released a report that found graduate unemployment in the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland has spiked to 44 percent, the highest rate in 10 years. The stats can't be much better for the U.S., Canada or other countries.

However, if you do get a job, HECSU says the salary levels are not being hit too hard.

If you need help finding your first tech job, check out our Entry Level and New Grad Resources Center. That's where you can find links to job boards, cover letter and resume writing tips, interview prep and follow-up, and other resources that could give you a leg up in your job search.

How many times have you heard that around the office when someone lets out a cough?

While the person saying this may be joking, coming into the office with so much as the sniffles is increasingly being considered a faux-pas, especially these days when people are freaking out about H1N1.

The general consensus is: if you're sick, stay at home. And if you have deadlines to meet or otherwise absolutely have to get something done, this may be the time to take advantage of your company's telework policy. If you're allowed to work from home in these circumstances, why in the world would you come into the office?

So what happens if you're in a position where it's just not possible to telecommute? In a perfect world, you'd still stay at home and take whatever sick days you need, because management has planned ahead and allowed at least one other person to be cross-trained in your specialization so they can perform your job in an emergency.

But with downsizing and the generally hectic pace in IT, is that reality in the average workplace? Do you feel your company is properly prepared to handle such a situation? Let me know your thoughts....

Not surprisingly, the overall labor market is still quite weak. But the technology job category is apparently a bit of an exception, according to recent data from The Conference Board.

The total number of jobs in all industries and categories posted online across the U.S. dipped in October (83,200 fewer than in September), but there was actually a slight increase in the Computer and Mathematical Science category, with 7,200 more jobs posted online than in the month before. Many of these were actually computer systems engineering positions, which are supposed to be some of the hottest IT gigs of 2010 as far as starting salaries go.

And, if you look closely at the data, you'll see that overall, the tech sector is supposed to be faring better than some other categories that saw a bigger jump in job postings.

For example, while sales and related occupations saw a pretty big upsurge in online employment ads in October compared to September, you still have an average of four unemployed sales people competing for each job posting in this category.

IT is different: There are just over 236,000 unemployed tech workers in the U.S., but more than 409,000 vacancies posted online, making the job market much less competitive – in theory, of course.

But what's it like in practice for those of you who are currently looking for a job? Are you actually seeing that many opportunities, and are they good matches for your skill sets? I'd love to hear more about your job search challenges and the types of roadblocks you're coming across...

In the meantime, check out this list of sites where you can find IT jobs (you might see some you haven't heard of before):

• ComputerJobs.com
• Net-Temps
• Hirenet
• Monster
• DICE
• LinkedIn

Recruitment firm Robert Half International has released its list of the 10 most promising jobs for 2010, and three of them are in the information technology field.

The list is based on the company's Salary Guides for the coming year. Although Robert Half is expecting most starting salaries in tech to not change much at all, or even to dip a little, it's supposedly a different story for the following three positions:

(By the way, I've also included expected starting salary ranges, because I'm sure you'd like to know more about earning potential, especially if you're planning a career switch.)

• Network administrator - $54,500 to $80,250;
• Information systems security manager - $96,500 to $130,750;
• Systems engineer - $64,250 to $93,250.

Although today's 12 to 24-year-olds are extensive users of personal technology, they're apparently turning up their noses at the idea of pursuing "techie" careers, which is worrying some players in the high-tech industry. So says a survey by CEFRIO, a public-private technology transfer group based in Quebec, Canada.

An article in the Montreal Gazette quotes a researcher who suggests that this demographic, which CEFRIO refers to as Generation C (but which could also be classified as Millennials or Generation Y), is more dependent on technology than knowledgeable about it, which makes members of this age group feel like they really don't need tech skills in order to do tech-related things.

But will we really end up with a future tech skills gap? Will Millennials actually stop viewing technology as a desirable career option? That depends on how we communicate to this generation what kinds of tech career opportunities are out there.

If anything, Millennials have the potential to be better equipped than previous generations to comprehend the relationship between tech and business, because of how technology touches nearly every aspect of their everyday lives.

So the focus should be on teaching them to not take tech skills for granted. Instead of trying to promote technology careers as "cool" in themselves, we need to emphasize the extent to which Gen Y's daily activities, whether posting on Facebook or using online banking, require people with specialized technical abilities to work behind the scenes to make things run smoothly.

Here's some good news at a time where economic and job prospects still look bleak for many: A recent study has found that clean or green tech is experiencing a major boom that is in some ways similar to that of the software or biotech industries – but with a few major differences that may make it easier for people to break into the field.

Research firm Clean Edge, which authored the report on jobs in clean technology, defines clean tech firms as "companies that in some way use or produce renewable materials and energy sources, reduce use of natural resources (or improve efficiency), and limit or stop pollution and toxic waste."

While clean technology is getting a lot of attention (and investments) from venture capitalists, much like high tech firms received in the late '90s and early 2000s, the big difference is that green tech companies are more spread out across the U.S. – unlike high-tech, which was highly concentrated in California.

The range of education required to obtain a job in green IT, and the range of jobs available in this industry, is also much wider than it was for high tech during the dotcom boom.

You can read the full report on Clean Edge's website.

What do you do when your employees start killing themselves over work-related issues? France Telecom is the latest company that has had to deal with a number of recent suicides at work: people throwing themselves out the office window, overdosing on barbituates and stabbing themselves during meetings, all because of unhappy job situations.

One of the things we could blame is the lack of work-life balance. I've talked about this before: too many people are expected to be tied to their Blackberry devices 24/7. Even France Telecom's CFO said email and smartphones can put undue pressure on employees. And in an age of globalization and restructuring, where people who rely on their workplace for their social networks are being let go or moved around, it's no surprise people are getting depressed when those ties are severed.

It's also sad that we've allowed our jobs to take center-stage in our lives. Of course, you have to make a living, and it's important to like what you do. It's even OK to enjoy the ladder-climb. But your career isn't everything. We need to remember to foster relationships with our family and friends, because they are the ones who will pull us through when work fails us.

Some of you might recall that hilarious 1992 anti-piracy video geared toward middle-school students, known as "Don't Copy that Floppy." Well, the organization that created it, the Software & Information Industry Association, has come out with a new version for this generation: "Don't Copy that 2." Like its predecessor, this version features MC Double Def DP (a.k.a. DP or Digital Protector), who crusades against software and content piracy with the slogan, "It's not just a copy. It's a crime." YouTube is also hosting the video.

It's important to note that, beyond communicating the message that pirating software and content carries stiff penalties and can ruin the life of the person doing the copying, DP mentions in the video that piracy can also "kill a couple of careers." The Business Software Alliance says that for every $1 of software sold in a country, another $3 to $4 is earned by local IT service and distribution firms. So the more people copy software, the fewer jobs there are in IT services.

A 2008 report by research firm IDC predicted that lowering PC software piracy by 10 points over four years would create 600,000 new jobs worldwide. According to the report, actual experience in China and Russia confirms that prediction.