sick leave/other paid time off...there are many alternatives to standard sick leave policies,...

Sick Leave/Other Paid Time Off- Does your state have special requirements for employers to provide paid sick leave or other paid time off?

State Main provision of the paid sickleave law

Main provision of other paidleave laws Covered employers

US There is currently no federal law requiring employers to provide employees with paid sick leave. However a growing number of states and cities havepassed laws and ordinances requiring that employers provide paid sick leave. In addition, many employers have chosen to provide paid sick leave asa matter of policy, even if they are not legally required to do so.

Employers establishing or amending a sick leave policy should consider other disability income policies, how unused sick leave should be addressed,liability for sick leave, and general discrimination issues. When adopting a policy, employers must be sure that it fully complies with federal or statefamily/medical leave laws, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and any other applicable laws.

There are many alternatives to standard sick leave policies, including flexible leave policies, no-fault attendance policies, leave donation programs,and paid-time-off banks.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA): The FFCRA became law when President Donald Trump signed it on March 18, 2020, and itwill become effective on April 1, 2020. The Act builds on an $8.3 billion emergency COVID-19 spending package enacted into law on March 6, 2020, toaddress the immediate public health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Broadly, these provisions include but are not limited to the following:emergency paid sick leave; emergency/expanded family and medical leave; unemployment benefits; and free coronavirus testing.The FFCRA modifiesU.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) food assistance and nutrition programs to allow certain waivers to requirements for school meal programs,suspend the work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program), and allowstates to request waivers to provide certain emergency SNAP benefits. In addition, the Act requires the Occupational Safety and Health Administration(OSHA) to issue an emergency temporary standard that requires certain employers to develop and implement a comprehensive infectious diseaseexposure control plan to protect healthcare workers. The Act also includes provisions that establish a federal emergency paid leave benefits programto provide payments to employees taking unpaid leave due to the COVID-19 outbreak, expand unemployment benefits and provide grants to statesfor processing and paying claims, require employers to provide paid sick leave to employees, establish requirements for providing coronavirusdiagnostic testing at no cost to consumers, treat personal respiratory protective devices as covered countermeasures that are eligible for certainliability protections, and temporarily increase the Medicaid federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP).

Sick Leave. The Act requires employers with less than 500 employees to provide up to 80 hours of paid sick leave for local/state/federal imposedquarantine or self-quarantine for COVID-19, for their own illness or a family member’s illness related to COVID-19, and for school/daycare closuresrelated to COVID-19. Employees are not entitled to paid sick leave, however, if they are simply home because their workplace is closed. In thesesituations, employees may be eligible for unemployment compensation.Paid leave required under the Act is separate and above any existing sickleave entitlements. Outside of those circumstances, an employee is subject to existing sick leave entitlements.For absences related to the employee’sown exposure to coronavirus, employers must pay 100% of the employee’s regular wages. Pay may be capped at $511 per day and $5,110 in theaggregate. For absences related to the employee’s family member or school and/or childcare closings, employers must pay the paid sick time at 2/3the employee’s regular wages. Pay may be capped at $200 per day and $2,000 in the aggregate. Note that part-time employees are entitled to thenumber of paid sick time hours equal to the average number of hours they work over a 2-week period.

Emergency Family and Medical Leave. The FFCRA gives government employees and employees of companies with fewer than 500 employees theright to take up to 3 months of leave from their jobs if they have to care for a family member who is quarantined or for a child whose school has beenclosed.Under the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Act (Expanded FMLA or EFMLA), for absences related to COVID-19, employees must only beemployed for 30 consecutive days and there are no hours-worked requirements.Specifically, the EFMLA provisions temporarily expand the currentFMLA to allow up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave for employees who are unable to work because they must care for a child whose school/daycareprovider has closed due to a public health emergency declared as a result of COVID-19 by a federal, state, or local authority. Paid FMLA leave for thisreason is required after the first 10 days (during which the paid sick leave may be used). Employees may choose to use previously available sickleave, vacation leave, or paid time off. Employers cannot require employees to utilize such leave, however. Employees taking leave are entitled to payat 2/3 their regular rate or 2/3 the applicable minimum wage, whichever is higher, up to $200 per day and $12,000 in the aggregate (over a 12-weekperiod). The Act also exempts certain healthcare providers from the expanded coverage. The right to EFMLA leave related to COVID-19 expiresDecember 31, 2020.

Employers will receive tax credits for payments to employees under the FFCRA, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued guidance

State Law Chart BuilderCustomizable employment law answers for HR

of 48 © BLR-Business & Legal Resources These charts provide an overview of state laws and are meant for internal use only.

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addressing how those credits would be provided, available online at https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-and-labor-announce-plan-to-implement-coronavirus-related-paid-leave-for-workers-and-tax-credits-for-small-and-midsize-businesses-to-swiftly-recover-the-cost-of-providing-coronavirus.

In short, the IRS is allowing employers to take immediate advantage of the paid leave credits by retaining and accessing funds that they wouldotherwise pay to the IRS in payroll taxes. If those amounts are not sufficient to cover the cost of paid leave, employers can seek an expeditedadvance from the IRS.On March 24, 2020, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued additional guidance foremployers and employees relating to the two paid leave provisions of the FFCRA: the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and the Emergency Family andMedical Leave Expansion Act.The provisions will become effective on April 1, 2020, and will apply to leave taken between April 1, 2020, andDecember 31, 2020. The DOL noted that leave taken and/or provided before April 1, 2020, will not count toward the FFCRA requirements.

UPDATE: As of April 8, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued three separate FAQs to provide guidance concerning the FFCRA. OnMarch 28, 2020, the DOL released its third batch of Questions and Answers (FAQs #38-59), which became effective April 1, 2020. According to themost up-to-date guidance, on April 1, the FFCRA will require private employers with 499 or fewer employees, and certain public employers, to providecovered employees with emergency paid sick leave (EPSL) and emergency unpaid and paid family leave (FMLA+). Additionally, the DOL also clarifiedsome information it previously provided in other Questions and Answers (FAQs #1-37).Additional information on the DOL’s guidance can be found athttps://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-questions. A summary of the provisions of the Act may be found at https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/6201/text.

AL There is no Alabama law that requires privatesector employers to provide employees sickleave, paid or unpaid.

There is no provision for this topic in this state. There is no provision for this topic in this state.

AK Alaska law does not require employers toprovide employees with sick leave benefits,either paid or unpaid.

An employer may not penalize an employee whois a crime victim because the employee issubpoenaed or requested by the prosecutingattorney to attend a court proceeding for thepurpose of giving testimony. "Penalize" means totake action affecting the employment status,wages, and benefits payable to the victim,including demotion or suspension; dismissalfrom employment; and loss of pay or benefits,except pay and benefits that are directlyattributable to the victim's absence fromemployment to attend the court proceeding.Citation: AS 12.61.017.

All employers in the state are covered by thecrime victims law.



https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-and-labor-announce-plan-to-implement-coronavirus-related-paid-leave-for-workers-and-tax-credits-for-small-and-midsize-businesses-to-swiftly-recover-the-cost-of-providing-coronavirus





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https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-questions



https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/6201/text







AZ Employers must provide employees with paidtime off. Employees will earn one hour of sickleave for every 30 hours worked. The totalamount of required sick leave is capped,depending on the size of the employer.Employers with fewer than 15 employees mustallow workers to earn 24 hours of sick leave peryear, while employers with 15 or moreemployees must grant 40 hours of earned paidsick leave annually. In addition to the employee’sown sickness, the leave can be used forpreventive care, physical or mental illness, andservices related to domestic or sexual violencefor the employee or an employee’s familymember. “Family member” is broadly defined toinclude the employee’s spouse or domesticpartner as well as parents, children,grandparents, grandchildren, and any individualsregardless of age who acted, or for whom theemployee or employee’s spouse or domesticpartner acted, in a parental role duringchildhood. Employers will be able to requireadvance notice of a foreseeable need to use paidsick leave, but only if they put the requirementin a written policy that has been provided toemployees.

Citation: A.R.S. § 23-371-4


AR In addition to any medical, personal, or otherpaid leave provided by the employer, a privateemployer shall grant an employee an unpaidleave of at least 90 days absence to allow theemployee to serve as an organ donor or a bonemarrow donor if the employee requests a leaveof absence in writing. If the leave is paid, theemployer is entitled to a tax credit.Citation: Ark. Code Ann. § 11-3-205.Employees of state agencies are entitled to oneday of sick leave for each complete monthworked.Citation: Ark. Code Ann. § 21-4-207.







CA The Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Actrequires California employers to provide paidsick leave to covered employees.

Covered employees are entitled to accrue sickleave at a rate of no less than one hour for every30 hours worked. Although accrual begins fromthe commencement of employment, anemployee is not entitled to use the accrued sickleave until the 90th day of employment.

Accrued sick leave carries over from onecalendar year to the next; however, theemployer may limit the maximum accrual to 48hours or six days, and may limit an employee’suse of sick leave to 24 hours or three days ineach year of employment. There is no obligationto pay accrued, unused paid sick days uponseparation from employment for any reason.

Employees may take sick leave for: (1)diagnosis, care, or treatment of a healthcondition of, or preventive care for, an employeeor an employee’s covered family member; and(2) various specified reasons where theemployee is a victim of domestic violence,sexual assault, or stalking. Employers mustprovide written notice to current employees thatsets forth the amount of paid sick leaveavailable or paid-time-off (PTO) leave provided inlieu of sick leave and to each newly hiredemployee explaining (among other information)the right to accrue and use sick leave, to requestand use accrued paid sick leave, and not beterminated or retaliated against for using orrequesting paid sick leave as well as the right tofile a complaint against an employer thatretaliates. Employers must keep recordsdocumenting the hours worked and paid sickdays accrued and used by an employee for atleast 3 years.

Municipal laws: In addition to the state law,several California cities have local paid sickleave laws that apply to employees workingwithin the geographic boundaries of thespecified city. Where state and local lawsconflict, the most generous entitlement/

Voting time: If a voter does not have sufficienttime outside of working hours to vote at astatewide election, the employer must provideup to two hours of paid time off to enable thevoter to vote, provided the employee gave therequired notice. The time off for voting shall beonly at the beginning or end of the regularworking shift, whichever allows the most freetime for voting and the least time off from theregular working shift.

Paid family leave: California provides paidfamily leave benefits for workers to provide carefor a child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent,grandchild, sibling, spouse, or registereddomestic partner with a serious health conditionor to bond with a new child (newborn, adopted,or foster care child).

Under the state Paid Family Leave Law (PFL),most California workers are entitled to receivepartial wage replacement benefits for six weeksin a 12-month period. PFL benefits are notavailable for the employee’s own medicalcondition. PFL does not create leave entitlementor provide job protection.

Organ and bone marrow donation:Employers with 15 or more employees arerequired by state law to grant paid leave toqualifying employees for the purpose of organ orbone marrow donation. The law provides a paidleave of absence of up to 30 business days per12-month period for donating an organ toanother person and up to 5 business days per12-month period for bone marrow donation.

School leave: Employers with 25 or moreemployees are prohibited from discharging ordiscriminating against an employee whose childaged from kindergarten to grade 12, or with alicensed child care provider, for taking off up to40 hours each year to (1) find, enroll, or reenrollhis or her child in a school or with a licensedchild care provider, or to participate in activities

Voting time: All employers.PFL: Employees covered by State DisabilityInsurance (SDI) are also covered by PFLinsurance. If a Voluntary Plan Insurer providesyour company’s disability insurance coverage, inlieu of SDI, then it must also provide PFLinsurance coverage.Organ and bone marrow donation:Employers with 15 or more employees arecovered.






employee right will apply.

California cities with local paid sick leave lawsinclude San Francisco, Oakland, Emeryville, LosAngeles, San Diego, Santa Monica, and Berkeley.

Citation: Cal. Lab. Code §§ 233, 245 et seq.

of the school or licensed child care provider ofhis or her child (up to 8 hours in any calendarmonth), or (2) to address a child care provider orschool emergency. Notice must be given to theemployer. Documentation may be required.Covered parents include a parent, guardian,stepparent, foster parent, or grandparent of, or aperson who stands in loco parentis to, a child.Employees must give reasonable notice and mayeither use existing vacation, personal leave, orcompensatory time off or may take leavewithout pay.

Citation: Cal. Lab. Code §§ 1508 et seq.; Cal.Elec. Code § 14000.

CO On July 14, 2020, SB20-205, or theColorado Healthy Families andWorkplaces Act (HFWA), wassigned into law. The HFWA requiresall Colorado employers to providethree types of paid sick leave: 1)COVID-19 emergency paid sickleave (CO-EPSL) (the provisions ofthe CO-EPSL take effectimmediately).; 2) paid sick andsafe time (PSST); and 3) publichealth emergency paid sick leave(PHEL). The requirement goes intoeffect for covered employers with16 or more employees on January1, 2021, and for all other coveredemployers (regardless of howmany employees they employ) onJanuary 1, 2022.







CT With the exception of service employees, thereis no Connecticut law requiring employers toprovide employees with either paid or unpaidsick leave. State law mandates that paid sickleave be provided to service workers such aswaiters, cashiers, and hairstylists. The lawrequires covered employers to provide serviceworkers one hour of sick time for every 40 hoursworked, up to a maximum of 40 hours per theemployer's benefit year. Eligible employees mayuse the sick leave for:

• Their own illness, injury, or healthcondition; the medical diagnosis, careor treatment of their own mental orphysical illness, injury or healthcondition; and preventive medicalcare.

• The medical diagnosis, care, ortreatment of an employee's spouse orchild's illness, injury, or healthcondition and preventive medical carefor an employee's spouse or child.

• Personal needs of an employee who isa victim of family violence or sexualassault.

An employer will be in compliance with the sickleave law if the employer offers any other paidleave, or combination of other paid leave, thatmay be used for the same purposes as the lawprovides, and the other paid leave is accrued intotal at a rate equal to or greater than the rateprovided in the law. Other paid leave mayinclude, but is not limited to, paid vacation,personal days, or paid time off. An employee isentitled to use accrued paid sick leave when heor she has 680 hours of employment.Up to 40hours of unused accrued paid sick leave may becarried over from year to year. However, theemployee is legally entitled to use only 40 hoursof paid sick leave in any one year, duringwhatever 365-day year the employer uses tocalculate employee benefits. No employer shall(1) terminate any employee, (2) dismiss anyemployee, or (3) transfer any employee fromone worksite to another solely in order to notqualify as an employer, as defined by the act.

Employers must allow employees to use up totwo weeks of accumulated sick leave to care forthe serious health condition of the employee,child, spouse, parent, domestic partner, or thepartner's parent or child, for the birth oradoption of a child, or so that the employee mayserve as a bone marrow or organ donor.Employers are prohibited from discriminating inany way against an employee for using orattempting to use sick leave for these purposes.

Paid sick leave: The law applies to servicecompanies with 50 or more workers in the stateduring the week containing October 1.






Notice must be given of the amount of sick leaveprovided, and the terms under which sick leavemay be used; that retaliation is prohibited; andthat the employee has a right to file a complaintwith the Labor Commissioner for any violation ofthe law. Employers may comply with the noticeprovision by displaying a poster in a conspicuousplace, accessible to employees and must beprinted in both English and Spanish.






DC The District of Columbia’s Accrued Sick andSafe Leave Act of 2008 entitles employees topaid sick and “safe” leave for use under certaincircumstances. The amount of paid sick leavegiven to the employee depends on the size ofthe employer, as follows:

• Employers with 100 or moreemployees must provide one hour ofpaid leave for every 37 hours worked,not to exceed seven days percalendar year.

• Employers with at least 25, but notmore than 99, employees mustprovide one hour of paid leave forevery 43 hours worked, not to exceedfive days per calendar year.

• Employers with 24 or feweremployees must provide one hour ofpaid leave for every 87 hours worked,not to exceed three days per calendaryear.

Paid leave accrued under the Sick and SafeLeave Act may be used by an employee for anyof the following reasons:

• Physical or mental illness, injury, ormedical condition of the employee;

• Obtaining professional medicaldiagnosis or care, or preventivemedical care, for the employee,provided that the employee makes areasonable effort to schedule suchleave in a manner that does notunduly disrupt the operations of theemployer;

• Caring for a child, a parent, a spouse,domestic partner, or any other familymember who has a physical or mentalillness, injury, or medical condition orneeds for diagnosis or care; or

• If the employee or the employee’sfamily member is a victim of stalking,domestic violence, or sexual abuse;provided, that the absence is directlyrelated to social or legal servicespertaining to the stalking, domestic

There is no provision for this topic in this state. All employers.






violence, or sexual abuse.

Citation: D.C. Code § 32-131.01 et seq.

DE There is no Delaware state law that requiresprivate sector employers to provide employeeswith paid or unpaid sick leave.


FL There is no Florida law that requires privatesector employers to provide sick leave, paid orunpaid.


GA There is no Georgia law that requires privateemployers to provide employees with paid orunpaid sick leave.

However, note that employers who voluntarilychoose to provide employees with paid sickleave must comply with the state kin care law,which provides that employers with at least 25employees allow eligible employees (thoseworking at least 30 hours per week) to use up tofive days of sick leave to care for immediatefamily members.

Citation: GA Code Ann Sec. 34-1-10 et seq.


HI It is unlawful for employers with 100 or moreemployees under a collective bargainingagreement to fire, demote, or withhold pay froman employee who uses accrued and availablesick leave. The law also applies to labororganizations. Under the law, employers mayrequire the employee to provide writtenverification from a physician indicating that theemployee was ill when the employee uses threeor more consecutive days of sick leave. The lawdoes not provide any specific recourse foremployers when an employee fails to providesuch verification.Citation: HRS § 378-32.


ID There is no Idaho law requiring private sectoremployers to provide employees with paid orunpaid sick leave.







IL Effective January 1, 2017, the Illinois Sick LeaveAct requires employers that provide sick leavebenefits to employees to allow employees totake such leave for absences due to the illness,injury, or medical appointment of theemployee’s family member. Family memberscovered include children, spouses, parents-in-law, grandchildren, grandparents, andstepparents. Employers may limit sick leavebenefits for absences due to family members toone-half of an employee’s annual leaveentitlement.

Chicago/Cook County: Effective July 1, 2017,the Chicago and Cook County Sick Leaveordinances will require nearly all employers inthe City / County, regardless of the number ofemployees in an employer’s workforce, toprovide paid sick leave. The sick leave mustaccrue at a rate of one hour of paid sick leavefor every 40 hours worked. Accrued sick leavemay be capped at 40 hours. Employers mustallow employees to carry over one-half of his/herunused/ accrued paid sick leave, up to amaximum of 20 hours. To be eligible, employeesmust work in the city/county for at least 80hours in any 120-day period, and in any two-week period, must perform at least two hours ofwork while physically present in thegeographical boundaries of the city/county.Employees must be allowed to begin using thepaid sick leave no later than the 180th calendarday following the commencement ofemployment. The ordinances contain broad ruleson reasons the leave may be used and detailedrules on notice requirements, and other items.

There is no provision for this topic in this state.

IN No Indiana law requires private employers toprovide employees with sick leave, paid orunpaid.


IA There is no Iowa law requiring private sectoremployers to provide employees with sick leave,paid or unpaid, except an unpaid pregnancyleave of up to eight weeks in Iowa Code 216.


KS There is no Kansas law that requires privatesector employers to provide sick leave, paid orunpaid. For leave laws governing publicemployers in regard to sick leave, see Kan.Admin. Reg. § 1-9-5.

For leave laws governing public employers inregard to other paid time off, see Kan. Admin.Reg. § 1-9-1 et seq.

Public employers.

KY There is no Kentucky law requiring privateemployers to provide employees sick leave, paidor unpaid.







LA There is no Louisiana law requiring private sectoremployers to provide employees sick leave, paidor unpaid. Employees of every parish and cityschool board are entitled to take up to 90 daysof extended sick leave in each six-year period ofemployment to provide for personal illness orillness of an immediate family member. Unuseddays during any six-year period of employmentwill not cumulate or carry forward into the nextsix-year period of employment. Rules of leavetransfer for school employees are enumeratedby statute. Local governmental subdivisions arebarred by state law from establishing amandatory, minimum number of vacation or sickleave days for employees of private employers,whether paid or unpaid.Citation: La. Admin. Code § 17:1206.2; La. Rev.Stat. Ann. §§ 40:1263.4, 23:642.

Bone marrow: Employees who work anaverage of 20 or more hours per week may takepaid leaves of absence to donate bone marrow.The combined length of the leaves cannotexceed 40 work hours, unless agreed to by theemployer. The employer can require physicianverification of the purpose and length of eachleave. If there is a medical determination thatthe employee does not qualify as a donor, thepaid leave of absence granted to the employeeprior to that medical determination is notforfeited.Citation: La. Admin. Code § 17:1206.2; La. Rev.Stat. Ann.§ 40:1263.4.

Bone marrow: This Act applies to employerswith 20 or more employees.






ME Paid time off. Effective January 1, 2021,Maine’s Act Authorizing Earned EmployeeLeave requires covered employers to provideearned paid leave, which employees may use forany reason, including those for which sick leaveis typically used.

Accrual. Employees are entitled to earn onehour of paid leave from a single employer forevery 40 hours worked, up to 40 hours in oneyear of employment.

Citation: 26 MRSA Sec. 637.

Kin care. Employers with 25 or more employeesmust also allow an employee who receives paidleave, such as sick leave, vacation time, orcompensatory time, to use that time to care foran ill immediate family member. Covered familymembers are defined as the employee's child,spouse, or parent.

Paid leave does not include paid short-term orlong-term disability, catastrophic leave, orsimilar types of benefits. An employer mayadopt a policy limiting the number of hours ofpaid leave taken to care for an ill family memberbut may not limit the number of hours allowed tofewer than 40 hours for a 12-month period.Citation: 26 M.R.S.A. § 636.

There is no provision for this topic in this state. Paid time off: Employers with more than 10employees in the usual and regular course ofbusiness for more than 120 days in any calendaryear must provide (permit each employee toearn) paid leave. Seasonal employers are notincluded.

Kin care: Employers with 25 or moreemployees.






MD Effective February 11, 2018, Maryland’s HealthyWorking Families Act requires coveredemployers to provide leave time to employeesfor illness or other specified personal obligations.

Leave time accrues at a rate of at least 1 hourfor every 30 hours worked by an employee, upto a maximum of 40 hours of leave accrual peryear. Employers may also opt to front-load anemployee’s full amount of sick and safe leave atthe beginning of a leave year. Unused leave maybe carried over to the following year. Employersmay cap total leave accrual at a maximum of 64hours. Up to 64 hours of leave may be used in asingle year.

Whether leave must be provided on a paid basisdepends on the size of the employer.• Employers with 15 or more employees whoseprimary work location is in Maryland mustprovide leave on a paid basis.• Employers with 14 or fewer employees whoseprimary work location is in Maryland mayprovide leave on an unpaid basis.

Leave may be taken for a variety of personalreasons, including:• The employee’s own mental or physical injury,illness, or condition;• To obtain preventive medical care for theemployee or a family member;• To care for the mental or physical injury,illness, or condition of a family member;• For maternity or paternity leave; or• To obtain services in connection with anincident of domestic violence, sexual assault, orstalking.

Employers with preexisting leave policies are notrequired to modify those policies or provideadditional leave as long as the existing policiesare at least equivalent to the minimum accrualand reasons for use set forth by the Act.

The Act prohibits local jurisdictions fromenacting their own paid leave ordinances on orafter January 1, 2017. However, Montgomery

The state Flexible Leave Act requires coveredemployers that provide paid leave under a policyor collective bargaining agreement to allowemployees to use their paid leave (sick,vacation, or compensatory time) for the illnessof an immediate family member.

Citation: Md. Code Ann., Lab. & Employ. §3-802 et seq.

Montgomery County’s paid sick leave ordinanceapplies to employers with at least one employeein the county. Under this ordinance, employeesof employers with at least 5 employees accrueleave at a rate of 1 hour per 30 hours worked, upto an annual maximum of 56 paid hours.Employees of employers with fewer than 5employees accrue leave at a rate of 1 hour per30 hours worked, up to an annual maximum of32 paid hours and 24 unpaid hours. The leavemay be used by the employee for his or her ownillness, for the illness of a family members, or toobtain medical treatment or other services inconnection with domestic violence, sexualassault, or stalking.

Citation: Mont. County Code, § 27-76 et seq.

The state Healthy Working Families Act appliesto all employers with employees whose primarywork location is in Maryland. This may includeemployers not otherwise headquartered inMaryland.

Whether leave must be provided on a paid basisdepends on the size of the employer.

• Employers with 15 or more employees whoseprimary work location is in Maryland mustprovide leave on a paid basis.• Employers with 14 or fewer employees whoseprimary work location is in Maryland mayprovide leave on an unpaid basis.

The state Flexible Leave Act applies to anyemployer with 15 or more employees for eachworking day in each of 20 or more calendarweeks in the current or preceding year.






County’s existing paid leave ordinance is notpreempted.

Citation: Md. Code Ann., Lab. & Employ. § 3-1301et seq.






MA Effective July 1, 2015, all covered employersmust provide sick leave. For employers with 11or more employees, up to 40 hours of paid sickleave per calendar year must be allowed toaccrue for all employees, including part-time,seasonal, per diem, etc. For employers with 10or fewer employees, the sick leave may beunpaid. For foreseeable or pre-scheduled use ofearned sick time, the employer may, if they havea written policy, require up to seven days'notice, except where the employee learns of theneed to use earned sick time within a shorterperiod. Notice required for unforeseeableabsences is what is reasonable under thecircumstances.Employers must provide a minimum of 1 hour ofearned sick time for every 30 hours worked byan employee up to 40 hours per benefit year.Exempt employees are assumed to work 40hours in each workweek for purposes of earnedsick time accrual, unless their normal workweekis less than 40 hours, in which case earned sicktime will accrue based on that normal workweek.Employees will begin accruing earned sick timeon the date of hire (or the date this law becomeseffective, whichever is later). Employees will notbe entitled to use accrued earned sick time untilthe 90th calendar day following commencementof their employment. After this 90-day period,employees may use earned sick time as itaccrues.Earned sick time must be provided by anemployer for an employee to:1. Care for the employee's child, spouse, parent,or parent of a spouse, who is suffering from aphysical or mental illness, injury, or medicalcondition that requires home care, professionalmedical diagnosis or care, or preventive medicalcare;2. Care for the employee's own physical ormental illness, injury, or medical condition thatrequires home care, professional medicaldiagnosis or care, or preventive medical care;3. Attend the employee's routine medicalappointment or a routine medical appointmentfor the employee's child, spouse, parent, orparent of spouse;







4. Address the psychological, physical, or legaleffects of domestic violence; or5. Travel to and from an appointment, apharmacy, or other location related to thepurpose for which the time was taken. Thesmallest amount of sick time an employee canuse is one hour. For leave needed beyond onehour, the leave must be measured in thesmallest increment the employer's payrollsystem uses to account for absence or use ofother time. Employees may carry over up to 40hours of unused earned sick time to the nextbenefit year but are not entitled to use morethan 40 hours in 1 benefit year. An employermay define the year used which may be anyconsecutive 12-month period. Employers are notrequired to pay out unused earned sick timeupon the separation of the employee from theemployer. An employer may require writtendocumentation in the following circumstances:the leave exceeds 24 consecutively scheduledwork hours; the leave exceeds 3 consecutivelyscheduled work days; the leave occurs within 2weeks prior to an employee's final scheduledday of work (except for in the case of temporaryworkers); leave occurs after 4 unforeseeable andundocumented absences within a 3-monthperiod; or leave for employees ages 17 andunder occurs after 3 unforeseeable andundocumented absences within a 3-monthperiod.Any reasonable documentation signed by ahealthcare provider indicating the need forearned sick time taken is acceptable certificationfor absences under the law.For sick leave taken for domestic violence, anyof the following is acceptable documentation:restraining order or other documentation ofequitable relief issued by a court; a police recorddocumenting abuse; documentation that theperpetrator of the abuse has been convicted;medical documentation of the abuse; astatement provided by a counselor, socialworker, health worker, member of the clergy,shelter worker, legal advocate, or otherprofessional who has assisted the employee inaddressing the effects of the abuse on the






employee or the employee's family; or a signedwritten statement from the employee attestingto the abuse.

Citation: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149 § 148C, 940C.M.R. §§ 33.00-33.11.






MN There is no Minnesota law requiring privateemployers to grant their employees sick leave,paid or unpaid. But if a covered employer doesoffer sick leave, it must allow eligible employeesto use sick leave to care for covered familymembers for reasonable periods of time as theemployee’s attendance may be necessary, onthe same terms upon which the employee is ableto use sick leave benefits for the employee’sown illness or injury. Covered family membersinclude the employee’s child, spouse, sibling,parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild,grandparent, or stepparent. With the exceptionof minor children, an employer may limit the useof an employee’s personal sick leave benefits forrelatives to no less than 160 hours in any12-month period. Upon return from leave, theemployee is entitled to return to his or herformer position.Citation: Minn. Stat. §§ 181.940, 181.9413,181.942.

Minneapolis Sick Leave Ordinance: EffectiveJuly 1, 2017, Minneapolis employers with morethan five employees must provide employeeswith one hour of paid sick leave for every 30hours worked, up to 48 hours of accrued sickleave each year. Employees may begin using thepaid leave after 90 calendar days. Up to 80hours can be carried over from year to year.Minneapolis employers with five or fewer

employees must provide the leave, but it may beunpaid.

St. Paul Sick Leave Ordinance: Effective July1, 2017, St. Paul employers with 23 or moreemployees must provide employees with onehour of paid sick leave for every 30 hoursworked, up to 48 hours of accrued sick leaveeach year. Employees may begin using the paidleave after 90 calendar days. Up to 80 hourscan be carried over from year to year. Theeffective date for St. Paul employers with fewerthan 23 employees is January 1, 2018.

Duluth Sick Leave Ordinance: EffectiveJanuary 1, 2020, Duluth will become the thirdcity in Minnesota to enact a paid sick leave

Bone marrow and organ donation: Coveredemployers must grant up to 40 work hours ofpaid leave to any eligible employee who seeks toundergo a medical procedure to donate bonemarrow. The employer may require verificationby a physician of the purpose and length of eachleave requested by the employee to donatebone marrow. If there is a medical determinationthat the employee does not qualify as a bonemarrow donor, the paid leave of absencegranted to the employee prior to that medicaldetermination is not forfeited.

Domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking:An employee may use sick leave for “safety”leave, whether or not the employer allows use ofsick leave for that purpose, for such reasonableperiods of time as may be necessary. “Safetyleave” is defined as leave for the purpose ofproviding or receiving assistance because ofsexual assault, domestic abuse, or stalking, andit may be used for assistance to the employee orthe employee’s child, adult child, spouse, sibling,parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild,grandparent, or stepparent. An employer maylimit the use of safety leave to no less than 160hours in any 12-month period.

School leave: An employee may substitute upto 16 hours or accrued paid leave each year toattend school conferences or school-relatedactivities for the employee’s child if suchactivities cannot be scheduled during non-workhours.

Citation: Minn. Stat. §§ 181.9412, 181.9413,181.945, 181.9456.

Sick leave for family members: Law appliesto all employers with 21 or more employees atat least one site.Bone marrow: Law applies to all employerswith 20 or more employees at at least one site.Organ donation: Law applies to publicemployers with 20 or more employees.School leave: Law applies to all employers withone or more employees.Citation: Minn. Stat. §§ 181.940, 181.945,181.9456.






ordinance. The ordinance requires employerswith five or more employees to offer paid sickand safe time. Additional details are availablefrom the Duluth City Counsel website.

MS There is no Mississippi law requiring privateemployers to grant their employees paid orunpaid sick leave.




http://www.duluthmn.gov/city-clerk/earned-sick-and-safe-time/




MI Effective March 29, 2019,Michigan's Paid Medical LeaveAct (a significantly revisedversion of the previously-adopted Earned Sick Time Act)will require covered employersto provide eligible employeeswith paid leave for certaincovered reasons.

Covered employers/employees. The act applies toemployers with 50 or moreemployees.

Eligible employees broadlyinclude individuals for whom theemployer must withhold federalincome taxes, but severalcategories of workers areexcepted, including exemptworkers, those primarily workingoutside the state of Michigan,and those working an averageof fewer than 25 hours perweek.

Accrual of leave. Employeesare entitled to at least 1 hour ofpaid leave for every 35 hoursworked.







Employers may limit accrual,use, and carryover of leave to40 hours in a benefit year.Employers may also frontload atleast 40 hours of leave at thebeginning of a benefit year (andthose who do so will have arebuttable presumption ofcompliance).

Use of leave. Leave may beused:

• For absences resultingfrom an employee’smental or physicalillness, injury, or healthcondition; toaccommodate theemployee’s need formedical diagnosis, care,or treatment of a mentalor physical illness, injury,or health condition; or anemployee’s need forpreventive medical care;

• To allow the employee toprovide care for a familymember with a mental orphysical illness, injury, orhealth condition; care ofa family member who






needs medical diagnosis,care, or treatment of amental or physicalillness, injury, or healthcondition; or care for afamily member whoneeds preventivemedical care;

• For absences related todomestic violence orsexual assault of theemployee or theemployee’s familymember, including, butnot limited to, medical orpsychological care orcounseling, victimservices, legal services,relocation, andparticipation in civil orcriminal proceedingsrelated to the incident;

• For meetings at a child’sschool or place of carerelated to the child’shealth, disability, oreffects of domesticviolence or sexualassault on the child; and

• When the employee’splace of business has






been closed by order of apublic official for anyhealth-related reason orwhen an employee’schild’s school or place ofcare has been closed fora health-related reason.

Notice and verification ofleave. Employees may berequired to follow theemployer's usual and customaryleave notice, documentation,and procedural requirements forrequesting leave. Employeesmust be given at least 3 days toprovide documentation.

MO There is no Missouri law that requires privatesector employers to provide employees sickleave, paid or unpaid.


MT There is no Montana law requiring private sectoremployers to provide employees with sick leave,paid or unpaid. A permanent, full-time employeeof the state earns sick leave credits from the firstday of employment.Citation: Mont. Code Ann. § 2-18-618.


NE There is no Nebraska law that requires privatesector employers to provide employees with sickleave, paid or unpaid.







NV Effective January 1, 2020, Nevada law requirescovered employers to provide earned paid leave,which employees may use for any reason,including those for which sick leave is typicallyused.

Covered employers. “Employer” means aprivate employer with 50 or more employees inprivate employment in the state of Nevada. Newemployers are not required to comply with thelaw for the first 2 years of operation.

Employers who already provide paid time offpursuant to a contract, policy, collectivebargaining agreement, or other agreement arenot required to provide additional rights or leaveunder this law as long as the leave providedmeets the minimum accrual rate

Accrual and use. Employees are entitled toearn at least 0.01923 hours of paid leave forevery hour of work performed. An employee’sleave entitlement may be accrued over thecourse of the year or may be front-loaded. Theamount of leave used in a year may be limitedto 40 hours; leave carryover may also be limitedto 40 hours per year. Employees are eligible touse leave beginning on the 90th calendar day ofemployment.

Employees may use available leave for anyreason; more specifically, employees may useleave without providing a reason for doing so.

Citation: 2019 SB 312.


NH There is no New Hampshire law that requiresprivate employers to grant their employees sickleave, paid or unpaid.







NJ Effective October 29, 2018, New Jersey's PaidSick Leave Act requires covered employers toprovide paid sick leave for a number of uses. TheAct also preempts the multitude of existing cityordinances throughout the state.

Covered employees. With a fewexceptions, the Act covers allemployees engaged in servicefor compensation in the state ofNew Jersey. Excluded from theAct are construction workerscovered by collective bargainingagreements, certain per diemhealthcare employees, andpublic employees who alreadyreceive sick leave under otherstate laws.Leave entitlements. Coveredemployees will be entitled toone hour of paid sick leave forevery 30 hours worked, up to anannual accrual, use, andcarryover maximum of 40 hours.In lieu of the accrual method,employers may also frontload ayear’s worth of leave foremployees’ use. Employers mayimpose a 120-day waiting periodbefore new hires use accruedleave.New Jersey's law has some unique aspects. First,employers may choose the increment in whichsick leave is used, provided that the largest

The state's Temporary Disability BenefitsLaw (TDB) provides eligible employees with upto 26 weeks of temporary disability benefits.New Jersey's Paid Family Leave Act provideseligible employees with up to six weeks ofpayments during time off to:

• Bond with a child during the first 12months after the child's birth,if the covered individual or thedomestic partner or civil union partnerof the covered individual is abiological parent of the child, or thefirst 12 months after the placement ofthe child for adoption with thecovered individual; and

• Care for a family member with aserious health condition supported bya certification provided by ahealthcare care provider.

If the leave is taken to care for a seriously illfamily member, the leave may be taken duringone continuous period, up to a maximum of sixweeks or intermittently up to a 42-day maximumin a 12-month period. If the leave is taken tobond with a newborn or newly adopted child, theleave must be taken during one continuousperiod of time of seven days or more, unlessboth the employee and the employer haveagreed to an intermittent leave schedule. Inthose cases, leave may be taken innoncontinuous intermittent periods of sevendays or more. The law does not entitle anemployee to leave time, but it does entitle acovered employee to receive paid family leavebenefits while taking leave.Citation: N.J.S.A. 43:21-25 et seq.

Paid sick leave: The Paid Sick Leave Actapplies to all private employers with employeesin the state of New Jersey, including temporaryhelp service firms. Public employers alreadyrequired to provide employees with sick leavepursuant to any other state law or regulation arenot covered by the law.

TDB and paid family leave: Employees of allprivate and governmental employers subject tothe New Jersey unemployment compensationlaw are covered, regardless of size.






increment is the number of hours the employeewas scheduled to work during the missed shift.The law also specifically explains how it willapply to temporary help servicefirms—specifically, earned sick leave will accruebased on an employee’s total time worked onassignment with the temporary help servicefirm, rather than separately for each client towhich the employee is assigned. The NewJersey law also provides aframework for annual buybackprograms for employers who optto frontload leave.Reasons for leave. Following theexample set by other state andcity sick leave laws, sick leavemay be taken for many of theexpected purposes—theemployee’s own mental orphysical health needs; care ofcovered family members; andneeds related to domestic orsexual violence victimstatus—as well as some morepermissive purposes, includingschool and work closures relatedto public health emergenciesand attending school-relatedconferences and events.Family members. “Family member” isinterpreted broadly and includes numerousrelations not limited to child, grandchild, sibling,spouse, domestic partner, civil union partner,parent, or grandparent of an employee. The Actalso covers "any other individual related byblood to the employee or whose close






association with the employee is the equivalentof a family relationship."

Notice and administration. Employersmay require notice of the needfor leave—up to 7 calendar dayswhen the need is foreseeable,and as soon as practicable whenthe need is not foreseeable.Additionally, employees may berequired to make a reasonableeffort to schedule foreseeableleave in a manner that is notunduly disruptive to theemployer’s operation.Employers may also requirereasonable documentation ofthe use of leave for more than 3consecutive days.Existing policies. Employerswith preexisting leave policiesand combined PTO plans(including vacation, personal,and sick days) are not requiredto modify those policies orprovide for additional leave aslong as the leave providedunder the PTO policy is at leastequivalent to the minimumaccrual and reasons for use setforth by the Act. Additionally,the Act does not restrict






employers from providing moregenerous leave entitlementsand benefits, nor does the Actprohibit employers fromadopting leave donationprograms.Unless an employer policy orcollective bargaining agreementprovides otherwise, employeesare not entitled to payment ofunused earned sick leave uponseparation from employment.However, if an employee isreinstated after discharge within6 months, any unused accruedleave must also be reinstated.Restrictions. Employers may notrequire employees who arerequesting earned sick leave tosearch for or find a replacementworker to cover the employee’stime off. Employers are alsoprohibited from takingretaliatory personnel action ordiscriminating against anemployee because theemployee requests or usesearned sick leave. However,these restrictions do not preventemployers from takingdisciplinary action against






employees who misuse sickleave for purposes other thanthose permitted by the law.Posters and recordkeeping. Employersare required to provide notice ofemployees’ rights under the Actwithin 30 days of the issuanceof a sample notification from theDepartment of Labor andWorkforce Development.Employers must also maintainrecords of hours worked andearned sick leave taken for aperiod of 5 years. Employersthat fail to maintain records willbe presumed to have failed tocomply with the law, andapplicable penalties will beassessed.Preemption. The Act prohibitsNew Jersey counties andmunicipalities from adoptingany ordinance, resolution, law,rule, or regulation regardingearned sick leave. Additionally,the Act will preempt anyexisting ordinance, resolution,law, rule, or regulation regardingearned sick leave. Thus, themultitude of city sick leaveordinances adopted throughout






New Jersey will have no furthereffect after October 29, 2018.Citation: NJ Rev. Stat. Sec.34:11-56a et seq.

NM There is no New Mexico state law requiringprivate sector employers to provide employeeswith paid or unpaid sick leave.

Bernalillo County - Paid Time OffEffective July 1, 2020, the Employee WellnessAct requires employers to provide paid time of tofull-time, part-time, seasonal, or temporaryemployees for any reason. The law covers thecounty government and private employers witha physical presence within the unincorporatedlimits of the county. Employers must have 2 ormore employees within the unincorporatedlimits. Employees accrue 1 hour of PTO for every32 hours worked. The initial annual cap is 24hours with incremental increases of 16 hours peryear up to the final cap of 56 hours.Citation: County Ord. Ch. 14 Art. XIII







NY On April 3, 2020, the Budget Bill (Senate BillS7506B) was signed into law, which includes aprovision that amends the New York Labor Law(Sec. 196-b) to require all employers to provideannual sick leave to their employees, and themajority of this paid sick leave must be paid.This Paid Sick Leave Law is in addition to themandatory PSLL enacted on March 18, 2020 inresponse to COVID-19.

The additional provisions of the April 3rd PSLLwill become effective on September 30, 2020,and employees will begin accruing leave on thatdate. Employees may not begin to use accruedleave until January 1, 2021.

The amount of leave an employer is required toprovide varies based on the size of theemployer’s workforce in any calendar year andthe amount of net income in the previous taxyear.

For the purposes of calculating the number ofemployees, a “calendar year” is defined as the12-month period from January 1st throughDecember 31st. For the purposes of using andaccruing leave, a “calendar year” means eitherJanuary 1st through December 31st or anyregular and consecutive 12-month period.

Leave provided by the law is available for thefollowing purposes:• For a mental or physical illness, injury or healthcondition of an employee or an employee’sfamily member, regardless of whether thatcondition has been diagnosed or requiresmedical care at the time the employee requestsleave;• For the diagnosis, care, or treatment of amental or physical illness, injury or healthcondition of, or need for medical diagnosis of, orpreventative care for, an employee or anemployee’s family member; and• For certain absences from work due todomestic violence, a family offense, sexualoffense, stalking, or human trafficking, of anemployee or an employee’s family member.

Blood donation: Covered employers mustgrant employees at least three hours of leave inany 12-month period to donate blood. Employersmay also satisfy this requirement by allowingemployees to donate blood during work hours atleast two times per year at a convenient timeand place set by the employer without use ofaccumulated leave time, including allowing anemployee to participate in a blood drive at theemployee’s place of employment. Employeesmust provide advance notice of their intention totake such leave. According to guidance issued bythe state commissioner of labor, leave grantedto employees for off-premises blood donation isnot required to be paid leave.

Leave taken by employees at a company-designated donation alternative (such as anemployer-sponsored blood drive at theworkplace) must be paid leave that is providedwithout requiring the employee to useaccumulated vacation, personal, sick, or otherleave time. Employers with a unionizedworkforce may negotiate the terms andconditions of employee blood donation leave asa matter of collective bargaining, as long as anycollectively bargained agreement does notdiminish the minimum requirements set forth bylaw.

Citation: NYS Lab. Law § 202-j.

New York Paid Sick Leave Law:

• Employers with 4 or fewer employees and netincome of $1 million or less in the previous taxyear are required to provide 40 hours of unpaidsick leave per calendar year.• Employers with 4 or fewer employees and netincome of greater than $1 million in the previoustax year are required to provide 40 hours of paidsick leave per calendar year.• Employers with 5 to 99 employees mustprovide 40 hours of paid sick leave per calendaryear.• Employers with 100 or more employees mustprovide 56 hours of paid sick leave per calendaryear.

Blood donation: Employers with 20 or moreemployees at a work site.






Employees may begin accruing sick leave onSeptember 30, 2020, or when employmentbegins, whichever is later. Employees shallaccrue sick leave at a rate of 1 hour for every 30hours worked.

Employers may choose to frontload the totalamount of sick leave at the beginning of theyear, but any employer who chooses to frontloadleave may not later reduce or revoke the amountof leave provided to any employee based on thenumber of hours the employee actually worked.

Leave may also be carried over from year toyear, subject to a usage cap depending on thesize of the employer, or 40 hours per year foremployers with less than 100 employees and 56hours per year for employers with 100 or moreemployees.

Finally, interactions with current employer sickleave policies, local and municipal laws andregulations, and collective bargainingagreements must be be considered.

In New York City, the Earned Sick and SafeTime Act requires New York City employers withfive or more employees to provide up to 40hours of paid sick time per year to eligibleemployees. Employers with less than fiveemployees working in NYC must provide thoseemployees with up to 40 hours of job-protectedunpaid sick leave, as accrued.

Eligible employees must be employed within NYCfor more than 80 hours in a calendar year andperform work on a full-time, part-time,temporary, or seasonal basis, including workperformed in a transitional jobs program.

Employees may use accrued sick leave underthe Act for the employee’s own mental orphysical illness, injury, or health condition, or theneed for the employee to seek medicaldiagnosis, care, treatment, or preventivemedical care; care of a family member (includes






a child, grandchild, spouse, domestic partner,parent, grandparent, child or parent of anemployee’s spouse or domestic partner, orsibling, including half-, adoptive, or step-siblings)in need of such diagnosis, care, treatment, orpreventive medical care; or closure of the placeof business because of a public healthemergency, as declared by a public healthofficial, or the employee’s need to care for achild whose school or childcare provider hasbeen closed because of such a declaredemergency.

Additionally, effective May 5, 2018, this paidtime off may also be used for "safe time."

Notice must be posted, as well as provided tonew employees in English and the employee’sprimary language. Notice by the employee andcertification of the need for leave may berequired.

Citation: NYS Lab. Law § 202-j; N.Y. City Admin.Code §§ 20-911 - 20-924, Intro 1313-A.

NC There is no North Carolina law that requiresprivate employers to grant their employees paidor unpaid sick leave.


ND There is no North Dakota law requiring privatesector employers to provide employees paid orunpaid sick leave.


OH There is no Ohio law that requires private sectoremployers to provide employees with paid orunpaid sick leave. Public employees may usesick leave, upon approval of the responsibleadministrative officer of the employing unit, forabsence due to personal illness, pregnancy,injury, exposure to contagious disease that couldbe communicated to other employees, andillness, injury, or death in the employee'simmediate family.Citation: Ohio Rev. Code § 124.38.







OK There is no Oklahoma law that requires privatesector employers to provide employees sickleave, paid or unpaid.







OR All employers with more than 10 employees (and6 in Portland) must provide up to 40 hours ofpaid leave per year. Employers with less than 10employees (less than 6 in Portland) must provide40 hours of unpaid protected sick time.Employees accrue 1 hour of sick time for every30 hours worked or 1-1/3 hours for every 40hours worked and are eligible to take sick timeon their 91st day of employment.Reasons for leave. Paid sick leave may betaken for an employee’s or a family member’smental or physical illness, injury, or healthcondition, need for medical diagnosis, care, ortreatment of a mental or physical illness, injury,or health condition or need for preventivemedical care; and for any other purposespecified in the state family and medical leavelaw, leave for domestic violence, harassment,sexual assault, or stalking, leave for a publichealth emergency such as closure of the place ofbusiness, or closure of an employee’s child’sschool or childcare. Sick leave may also be takenwhen a public health authority or healthcareprovider determines that the employee’s or afamily member’s presence in the communitywould jeopardize the health of others. Theemployer must also grant use of paid sick timefor the exclusion of the employee from theworkplace under any law or rule that requiresthe employer to exclude the employee from theworkplace for health reasons.Requests and certification of leave. Anemployer may require the employee to complywith the employer’s usual and customary noticeand procedural requirements for absences or forrequesting time off if those requirements do notinterfere with the ability of the employee to usesick time. For foreseeable leave, the employermay require reasonable advance notice, not toexceed 10 days before sick time is to begin, oras soon as otherwise practicable. If leave isunforeseeable, notice must be provided as soonas practicable and must comply generally withthe employer’s notice or proceduralrequirements for requesting or reporting othertime off if those requirements do not interferewith the ability of the employee to use sick time.







An employer may discipline an employee forviolating workplace policies and procedures (butnot for the use of sick time) if the employee failsto provide notice as required by the rules or failsto make a reasonable effort to schedule leave ina manner that does not unduly disrupt theoperations of the employer. The employer maynot deny sick time based on failure to providenotice unless the employee has been provided acopy of a written policy regarding notice.Medical verification or certification. If anemployee takes more than 3 consecutivescheduled workdays of sick time for anyauthorized reason other than leave donation or apublic health emergency, the employer mayrequire the employee to provide verification froma healthcare provider of the need for the sicktime, or certification of the need for leave fordomestic violence, harassment, sexual assault,or stalking.If leave is foreseeable, verification orcertification may be required before the sicktime commences or as soon as otherwisepracticable. If the employee begins sick timewithout providing prior notice required by theemployer, medical verification must be providedto the employer within 15 calendar days afterthe employer requests the verification. For leavedue to domestic violence, harassment, sexualassault, or stalking, certification must beprovided to the employer within a reasonabletime after the employee receives the request forcertification. The employer must pay anyreasonable costs for providing medicalverification or certification, including lost wages,that are not paid under a health benefit plan.Pay. Employees must be paid their regular rateof pay, not including bonuses, other incentivepay, tips, overtime, holiday pay, or otherpremium rates. If an employee is paid on acommission or piece-rate, the employee needsto be paid at least Oregon minimum wage. Anemployer does not have to pay out accruedunused sick time at termination of employment.Existing policies. Employers with an existingsick time or PTO policy that is substantiallyequivalent to or more generous to the employee






than the minimum requirements of the statepaid sick time law will be deemed to be incompliance with the law. A substantiallyequivalent policy must provide at least the samenumber of sick time hours an employee wouldearn under the statute and must comply with allother minimum requirements listed in thestatute (e.g., when employees can use sick time;the rate of accrual; the regular rate of pay;qualifying absences; conditions of notice anddocumentation; and employment protections).Use and carryover. Employees may carry overup to 40 hours of paid sick time to the next year,but they can use only 40 hours in any one year.If an employer has fewer than 10 employeesworking in the state, it must allow 40 hours ofunpaid sick time to be accrued per year at therate of one hour for every 30 hours worked.Employers may agree with their employees tocash out unused paid sick time at the end of theyear as long as they immediately credit affectedemployees 40 hours of paid sick leave at thebeginning of the next year. Employers may capaccrual of leave at 40 hours per year and/or 80hours per employee.Notice. An employer must provide writtennotification at least quarterly to each employeeof the amount of accrued and unused sick timeavailable for use by the employee. Inclusion ofthe amount of accrued and used sick time on thewage statement meets the requirements of thesick time law. Employers must provide writtennotice of the law to all their employees no laterthan the end of the first pay period after hire.Copies of the employee notice letter and postersatisfying the notice requirements are availableon the state Bureau of Labor and Industries(BOLI) website at www.oregon.gov/boli.Exemptions. The paid sick leave law does notapply to an employee who is covered by acollective bargaining agreement, so long as theemployee is employed through a hiring hall orsimilar referral system operated by the labororganization or third party; and the employee’sbenefits are provided by a joint multiemployer-employee trust or benefit plan. All threeconditions must exist for the exemption to apply;



http://www.oregon.gov/boli




otherwise, the employee is entitled to statutorypaid sick leave.Citation: ORS 653.256 and 659A.885.

PA There is no Pennsylvania state law requiringprivate employers to provide employees withsick leave, paid or unpaid.

Philadelphia 21st Century Minimum Wageand Benefits Standard: Certain Philadelphiaemployers must provide full-time employeeswith one hour of paid sick leave for every 40hours worked. Covered employers includecertain contractors and subcontractors,depending on number of employees and value ofcontracts with City.Citation: Phila. Code § 17-1300—17-1312.

Philadelphia Promoting Healthy Familiesand Workplaces Ordinance: CertainPhiladelphia employers must provide certainemployees with paid and unpaid sick leave.Employers required to pay one hour of paid sickleave for every 40 hours worked for a maximumof 40 hours per year are employers with 10 ormore employees for at least 40 weeks in thecalendar year and chain establishments with 15or more establishments under the same name(regardless of where the other establishmentsare located).







RI Paid sick leave: Effective July 1, 2018, theHealthy and Safe Families and WorkplacesAct requires covered employers to provideemployees with paid sick or safe leave. (R.I.Gen. Laws 28–57–1 et seq.).

Leave accrual. Leave begins to accrue at thebeginning of employment or July 1, 2018,whichever is later. Covered employees willaccrue at least 1 hour of paid sick and safe leavetime for every 35 hours of work, up to amaximum of 24 hours during the 2018 calendaryear. In 2019, employees may accrue up to 32hours of leave. In 2020 and thereafter,employees accrue up to 40 hours of leave.

Employers may provide more generous annuallimits in both accrual and use. Additionally,employers may provide all paid sick leave anemployee is expected to accrue at the beginningof the year. Exempt employees accrue leavebased on a 40-hour workweek (or, if fewer hoursare worked, the normal workweek).

Reasons for leave. Paid sick leave may beused for:• An employee’s own physical or mental illness,need for diagnosis, care, or treatment;• Care of an employee’s family member’smental or physical illness, need for diagnosis,care, or treatment;• Closure of the employee’s place of business orchild’s school due to a public health emergency;or• Time needed when the employee or a familymember is a victim of domestic violence, sexualassault, or stalking.

“Family member” is interpreted broadly, andincludes a child, parent, spouse, mother-in-law,father-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, domesticpartner, sibling, care recipient, or member of theemployee’s household. "Care recipient" means aperson for whom the employee is responsible forproviding or arranging health or safety-relatedcare, including, but not limited to, helping theperson obtain diagnostic, preventive, routine, or

There is no provision for this topic in this state. Paid sick leave: Employers with 18 or moreemployees in Rhode Island. Employers withfewer than 18 employees are exempt from thepaid leave requirements; however, prohibitionsagainst retaliation under the act apply to allemployers.

Temporary caregiver benefits: All employers(private or public) that participate in the RhodeIsland Temporary Disability Insurance program.






therapeutic health treatment or ensuring theperson is safe following domestic violence,sexual assault, or stalking.

Exceptions. The law does not cover:• Individuals who, under the Rhode IslandMinimum Wage Act, are not consideredemployees (e.g., outside salespersons, golfcaddies, certain seasonal resort employees);• Independent contractors;• Subcontractors;• Federal work-study participants;• Apprentices and interns; and• Licensed nurses employed on a per diem basisby a healthcare facility.

Carryover of leave. Paid sick leave may becarried over to the following calendar year, butthe use of leave in a given calendar year maynot exceed the limits discussed above (e.g., 24hours in 2018, 32 hours in 2019, and 40 hours in2020 and beyond).

Payout of unused leave. Employers are notrequired to pay out accrued, but unused, sickleave upon separation from employment. If,however, an employee separates fromemployment and is rehired within 135 days bythe same employer, previously accrued paid sickand safe leave time must be reinstated, and theemployee must be entitled to use and accrueadditional leave at the re-commencement ofemployment.

Interaction with existing policies. If anemployer has a paid leave policy, including PTO,that provides at least the minimum amount ofannual paid leave hours required by this law, theemployer is exempt from the law’s accrual,carryover, and use requirements, even if theemployee uses the paid leave for purposes otherthan sick or safe leave. Nothing in this lawshould discourage or prohibit an employer fromadopting a paid sick and safe leave policy thatgrants greater rights or benefits than thoseprovided here.






Temporary caregiver benefits: EffectiveJanuary 1, 2014, the state temporary disabilityinsurance (TDI) benefits provisions are expandedto cover up to 4 weeks of wage replacement in abenefit year for workers who take time off tocare for a seriously ill child, spouse, domesticpartner, parent, parent-in-law, or grandparent, orto bond with a new child, whether through birth,adoption, or foster care. An employer mayrequire an employee who is entitled to leaveunder the federal FMLA or the Rhode IslandParental and Family Medical Leave Act to takeany temporary caregiver benefits receivedconcurrently with any leave taken under thestate and federal leave laws.

Covered children include biological, adopted,foster or step-children, as well as a legal ward, ason or daughter of a domestic partner, or a sonor daughter of an employee who stands in locoparentis to that child. Upon expiration of suchleave, the employee shall be restored to his/herprevious position or to a position with equivalentseniority, status, pay, etc. During any caregiverleave, employers must maintain the employee'sexisting health benefits for the duration of suchleave, with the employee only responsible forpaying his or her contribution.

Employers must provide notice to each newemployee hired on or after January 1, 2014, andto each employee taking leave from work on orafter January 1, 2014, due to pregnancy or theneed to provide care for any sick or injuredfamily member or new child. The state willrequire each employer to post and maintaininformation regarding the program. Notice andcertification by the employee may be required.The law limits the benefit to four weeks per year,however, should an employee suffer his or herown disability or illness the same year as takingtemporary caregiver benefits, he or she wouldalso be able to access the full amount of his orher own temporary disability benefits that year,provided the total over the course of the year isno more than 30 weeks of his or her income.Employees cannot file for both temporarycaregiver benefits and temporary disability






benefits for the same purpose, concurrently.

SC There is no South Carolina law requiring privatesector employers to provide employees withpaid or unpaid sick leave.


SD State employees are entitled to sick leave.Citation: SDCL § 3-6C-7; SDCL § 3-6C-9(advanced sick leave).

State employees are entitled to holiday pay(SDCL § 3-6C-20), vacation pay (SDCL §§ 3-6C-4,-5).

State.

TN There is no Tennessee law requiring privateemployers to provide employees sick leave, paidor unpaid.







TX There is no Texas state law requiring privatesector employers to provide employees sickleave, paid or unpaid.

However, Texas cities have made efforts to enactlocal paid sick leave ordinances. Theseordinances have been subject to legal challenge,so employers should review the latestdevelopments regarding active injunctions andexpected effective/enforcement dates.

Specifically:

Effective October 1, 2018, Austin employers with6 or more employees must provide eligibleworkers with at least one hour of paid sick leave(PSL) benefits for every 30 hours of work.Employers with 5 or fewer employees mustprovide leave no later than October 1, 2020.

Effective December 1, 2019, the San AntonioSick and Safe Leave Benefits Ordinance requiresall private employers to provide eligibleemployees with paid sick and safe leavebenefits.

Effective August 1, 2019, Dallas employers with6 or more employees must provide paid sickleave benefits. Employers with 5 or feweremployees must provide leave effective August1, 2021.

Citation: Austin City Code Section 4–19–1 etseq.; City Code of San Antonio, Sec 15–269 etseq.; Dallas City Code Section 20-1 et seq.)


UT There is no Utah law requiring private employersto grant their employees sick leave, paid orunpaid.







VT Employers are required to provide sick leave aspaid time off. Paid sick leave accumulates at noless than one hour for every 52 hours worked.Sick time may be used to recover from an injuryor illness or to attend healthcare appointments(including physical therapy appointments); tocare for a family member who is sick, injured, orattending healthcare appointments; to arrangefor social, legal, or medical support or assistancewith relocating for the employee or a familymember who is a victim of domestic violence,sexual assault, or stalking; and to care for afamily member whose school or business isclosed for health or safety reasons. H.187(2016).


VA There is no Virginia law requiring private sectoremployers to provide employees sick leave, paidor unpaid.







WA State Paid Sick Leave: Effective January 1,2018, Washington employees subject to thestate's minimum wage law are entitled to accrueat least one hour of paid sick leave for every 40hours worked. Leave accrual begins January 1,2018, or the beginning of employment,whichever is later.

Employees may use accrued leave: (1) for theirown illness, injury, or medical treatment; (2) tocare for an ill or injured family member; (3) forthe closure of their place of business or a child’sschool for a health-related reason; and (4) forabsences that qualify for domestic violenceleave. Employers may require new hires to waitfor up to 90 days after hire before using accruedleave.

Employees using paid sick leave may berequired to give reasonable notice, andemployers may require verification thatemployees’ absences are for an authorizedpurpose if they exceed three days.

Employers are permitted to limit the number ofhours an employee can carry over each year to40. Employers aren’t required to pay for sickleave when employment is terminated, but theyare required to restore previously accrued sickleave if an employee is rehired within 12months.

If employees have paid leave banks available,employers must permit employees to substitutepaid leave (e.g., vacation or PTO) for unpaid sickleave in situations that qualify under theWashington Family Leave Act or Family MedicalLeave Act.

Citation: 2016 IM 1433; Chapter 49.46.010 RCWet seq.

City of Seattle: Seattle has also adopted a PaidSick and Safe Time (PSST) Ordinance. EffectiveJuly 1, 2018, amendments to the PSST ordinancealigned and expanded the city’s existing law inresponse to the broader state requirements.

Paid family leave: Beginning January 1, 2020,eligible employees in Washington state will beentitled to up to 18 weeks of paid family andmedical leave per year. Funding for the leave willbe collected through payroll contributions basedon employee wages.

Additional details on family and medical leaveare available in the Family and Medical Leavechart.

Citation: 2017 SB 5976; Chapter 50A RCW.

Washington State Paid Sick Leave: Allemployers.

City of Seattle: All employers with Seattle-based employees. Accrual and carryover ratesvary based on employer size.






Notable differences between the state and citylaw are detailed below.

Coverage: The PSST requires all private sectoremployers to provide paid sick and safe leave totheir Seattle-based employees, includingovertime-exempt workers. Employees of the Cityof Seattle are also entitled to leave. Employeeswho are typically based outside of Seattle, butwork in Seattle on an occasional basis, are alsocovered once more than 240 hours of work areperformed in the city in a year.

Accrual, use, and carryover. The amount of paidleave an employee may accrue and carry overfrom year to year depends on the size of theemployer, with large employers being requiredto provide additional leave:

• Tier 1 employers (fewer than 50 full-time equivalents): Employees accrue1 hour per every 40 hours of work.Employees may carry over 40 hours ofleave per year.

• Tier 2 employers (between 50 and249 full-time equivalents). Employeesaccrue 1 hour per every 40 hours ofwork. Employees may carry over 56hours of leave per year.

• Tier 3 employers (250 or more full-time equivalents). Employees accrue1 hour per every 30 hours of work.Employees may carry over 72 hours ofleave per year. Tier 3 employers withcombined PTO plans must permitcarryover of 108 hours of PTO peryear.

There is no cap on accrual or use of leave in ayear. As is the case with the state law,employers may opt to provide paid sick and safetime in advance of accrual providedthat the frontloading meets or exceeds the citylaw’s accrual, use, and carryover requirements.

Recordkeeping. Each time wages are paid,






employees must be provided with writtennotification of their available paid sick and safeleave, including details on newly accruedleave, any reductions to leave, and the amountof unused leave available.

Notice. Employers must provide employees withwritten notice of their rights under the law andof the employer’s applicable policy andprocedures.

Additional details of the PSST’s requirements,changes made by amendments tothe ordinance, instructive guidance documents,and answers to FrequentlyAsked Questions are available from the city’sOffice of Labor Standards

Citation: Seattle Municipal Code, Ch. 14.16.010et seq.

City of Tacoma. Effective January 1, 2018, theCity of Tacoma revised its existing sick leaveordinance to align with state requirements.Additional information on the amendments andcurrent requirements is available from the City ofTacoma website.

Citation: Tacoma Municipal Code Chapter 18.10.

City of SeaTac. The city of SeaTac (the10-square-mile area surrounding the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport) passed anordinance granting paid sick leave tononmanagerial, nonsupervisory employeesworking for covered employers in the hospitalityand transportation industries within the city. Theordinance does not apply to employees of theairport.

Citation: SeaTac Municipal Code Ch. 7.45.WV There is no West Virginia law that requires

private sector employers to provide employeeswith sick leave, paid or unpaid.




https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/paid-sick-and-safe-time

https://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/one.aspx?objectId=75860

https://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/one.aspx?objectId=75860




WI By state statute, municipalities (cities, villages,towns, and counties) are prohibited fromenacting any ordinance that requires anemployer to provide leave from employment,paid or unpaid, for an employee's healthcondition, to care for a family member who has ahealth condition, to seek medical attention,counseling, or other services for the employee ora family member due to domestic violence,sexual abuse, or stalking, or to deal with anyother family, medical, or health issues of theemployee or family member.Citation: Wis. Stat. § 103.10(1m).


WY There is no Wyoming law requiring private sectoremployers to provide employees sick leave, paidor unpaid.




sick leave/other paid time off...there are many alternatives to standard sick leave policies,...

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