More than 25 cities have enacted sick leave laws
How can employers manage the additional compliance?
The increasing number of cities and municipalities passing paid sick leave laws pose a compliance challenge to employers. And, the trend is picking up speed. Each new ordinance adds a layer of compliance complexity for employers in those jurisdictions. Both state and federal paid sick leave laws have to be patchworked together.
For example, various cities within California (such as Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, Emeryville and Santa Monica) have passed laws that require employers to offer even more paid sick leave, allow for carry overs and caps and define “family member” in a manner which would allow for additional paid absences “to care for an ill family member”. There are more than 25 local jurisdictions in California, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington that have enacted paid sick leave requirements.
What should employers do?
The law that is most generous to the employee WINS. Begin thinking about both state and local laws and determine which areas of those laws are most generous to the employees. Then make sure the current Paid Sick Time or Paid Time Off Time policies comply with the most stringent laws of both. If the employer’s current policy is not compliant, employers now must determine how to develop a policy which is compliant by the time the bill becomes effective.
Which areas of the laws must be considered?
• The amount of paid sick time accruals that must minimally be established at.
• When is an employee is eligible for accruing time.
• Can employers prohibit the use of time during an introductory period.
• Must the unused time roll over to the following year? If so, how much has to be allowed?
• Can the employer cap the accrual? If so, at what rate/amount?
• Can doctor certification be required?
• Can you require specific notification and reporting requirements on the employee?
• Who is considered a “family member” and must be allowable for the employee to take paid sick time to care for the individual?
How OnePointHCM Can Help:
The OnePoint Time and Labor Management module allows for employee profile configurations that can be customized for specific time keeping rules to track leave/sick time accruals to meet state and local ordinances. Accrual rates can be set, capped, rolled over, delayed for introductory periods and more. The system can be configured to set your compliance obligations. If sick leave is a growing compliance concern for your organization learn more or contact OnePoint for a demonstration of our time and labor functionality.