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As election nears, so do decisions on paid sick leave

by June 18, 2008 5 Comments

Mandatory PTO for sick employees has quietly become a big issue in upcoming elections. Where does your state stand on the idea?

Twelve states in the U.S. are considering legislative proposals that would require employers to offer paid sick leave to their workers. The states are:

  • Connecticut
  • Florida
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Minnesota
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • North Carolina
  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • Vermont
  • Virginia

Plus, a host of municipalities, such as Washington, DC, are looking at proposals. San Francisco has already adopted mandatory paid sick leave for employers in that city.

How many? How much?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says about 50 million employees now don’t get paid sick leave. Most of the proposals being floated include requirements ranging from five to seven paid days a year for employers with a minimum of 25 to 50 fulltime workers.

Categories: Employment Law, FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act), In this week's e-newsletter
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  • Sharon

    I work for a municipal government and we earn 4 hrs paid sick leave every 2 week payperiod for a total of 13 days per year.

  • http://www.solvereinc.com David Wantland, SPHR-CA

    I notice that California is conspicuous in it’s absence from the list of state considering legislation to require sick pay. AB 2716 (Ma; D-San Francisco) has passed the Assembly and is now being considered in the Senate. This bill, listed by the California Chamber of Commerce as a JOB KILLER. will require:

    - Employers to accrue 1 hour of sick pay for every 30 hours worked with a yearly cap of 5 days for small business employers and 9 days for all others.

    - Employers to allow employees to take sick days in blocks equal to 6 months of accural.

    - Allowing employees to use time for claimed domestsic violence or sexual assault but does not establish how this can/should be verified.

    - Keeping records of all sick time accured and taken for 5 years.

    - Show all accured and taken sick time hours on the pay stub.

    It also does NOT address and reconcile the common practice of PTO days and may raise the question whether allowing paid sick time off in increments less than a full day is allowable.

  • Stephanie

    Our long term care facility offers employees app. 4 hours a month. You cap out at 120 hours. You can use your sick time as you earn it however upon your termination or resignation you do not get paid for any un-used sick time.

  • Stephanie

    Also you can use your sick time in as little as 1 hour increments up to 16 hours if you were scheduled to work a double shift.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/long-term-care-insurance-specialist SH

    Health reform will not cover very much long term care, at least nothing close to what long term care insurance covers.