If you’ve been waiting to look into the new paid sick leave laws until the dust settles, you can be assured the dust won’t settle and the time is now. Here’s what you need to know to get your payroll in good shape and your people covered.
The Times, They are a Changin’
The past few waves have seen a wave of new laws enacted across the US requiring employers to provide paid sick leave to employees. Regulations are now in place in four states, 20 cities, and one county, and those numbers are only going in one direction—up.
Laws are Inconsistent
There is very little consistency in the rules for accrual and usage from one area to the next. Rules can change as an employee crosses city lines or even zip codes, creating a nightmare for employers to manage.
If They’ve Earned It, They Can Take It
If an employee is scheduled for an upcoming project and has accrued a sufficient amount of sick time and is eligible to use it based on local laws, they have the right to call in sick and be paid for the time they missed work.
However…
An employee must be scheduled for work and must have previously worked a sufficient amount of hours to accrue paid sick leave in the location where they are scheduled for work.
Paid sick time can only be used in the geography where it was accrued and each location has specific restrictions on accrual and usage.
Sound like a nightmare to keep track of? Check out this blog post for help.
Paid sick leave laws apply to employees and not independent contractors, which is another fun challenge to keep straight. Need to determine whether your workers are actually employees? Visit our worker classification series for more.
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