What Employers Need To Know About The New Massachusetts Sick Leave Law
November 10, 2014
Last Tuesday, 59% of Massachusetts voters approved Ballot Question 4, passing a measure that will allow certain employees in Massachusetts to earn and use sick time. Employers should take steps now to prepare for the change and to update their policies accordingly.
Who:
The law will cover most Massachusetts employees and will apply to both part-time and full-time employees, as well as public and private employees (certain special conditions attach to employees of cities or towns).
What:
As of July 1, 2015, Massachusetts employees may earn and use up to 40 hours of sick time each year. Employers will be required to provide their employees a minimum of one hour of sick time per 30 hours worked. Employees will be able to use accrued sick time after 90 days of employment and may "roll over" up to 40 hours of unused sick time to the next calendar year. For the purposes of accruing sick time, the law assumes that employees who are exempt from the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) work 40 hours each week, unless their normal work week is less than 40 hours, in which case earned sick time will accrue based on that normal work week.
Paid or Unpaid?
The law also mandates that employers with 11 or more employees provide at least 40 hours of paid sick time each calendar year, while employers with 10 or fewer workers must provide up to 40 hours of unpaid sick time per calendar year. Paid sick time will be compensated at the same hourly rate paid to the employee at the time the sick time is used.
Under What Circumstances Can Employees Use Earned Sick Time?
Employees will be able to use sick time in order to address their own health needs orthose of an immediate family member, including the employee's children, spouse, parent, or parent of a spouse. Specifically, employees will be able to use sick time to:
Care for a physical or mental illness, injury or medical condition affecting the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family;
Attend routine medical appointments of the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family; or,
Address the effects of domestic violence on the employee or the employee's dependent child.
Prohibited Activities:
Employers may not interfere with an employee's exercise of earned sick time rights. Employees have a private right of action to enforce their earned sick time rights through the courts.
Employers may not require an employee either to work additional hours to make up for sick leave absences or to obtain a replacement during an absence.
Employers may not retaliate against an employee for using earned sick time, nor retaliate against an employee for supporting another employee's exercise of sick time benefits.
Protections For Employers:
Employers will not have to pay employees for any unused sick time at the end of their employment.
If an employee misses work for a sick time-eligible reason, but agreed with the employer to work the same number of hours or shifts in the same or next pay period, the employee is not obligated to use earned sick time, and the employer does not have to pay the employee for that missed time. Employers, however, may not require this arrangement.
The new legislation does not override employers' obligations under any pre-existing contract or benefit plan that contains more generous sick leave provisions. Employers with existing sick time policies that provide as much time off, usable for the same purposes and under the same conditions as the new law, are not required to provide additional sick time to employees.
Employers required to provide earned paid sick time, who 1) provide their employees paid time off under a paid time off, vacation or other paid leave policy, and, 2) who make available an amount of paid time off sufficient to meet the sick leave law requirements that may be used for the same purposes and under the same conditions as earned paid sick time, are not required to provide additional earned paid sick time.
Employers may require certification of the need for sick time if an employee used sick time for more than 24 consecutively-scheduled work hours. One caveat attaches here: employers cannot delay the taking of or payment for earned sick time because they have not received said certification.
In an effort to recognize the planning and staffing needs of employers, the law also requires employees to make a good faith effort to notify the employer in advance of using sick time, if the need for sick time is foreseeable.
Recommendations For Employers:
As the new sick time provisions will not be in effect until July 1, 2015, employers have ample time to plan for them and adjust their policies and procedures accordingly.
In the event that employers do not have outstanding sick time policies providing as much time off as the sick time law, usable for the same purposes and under the same conditions, it is suggested that employers draft and circulate a policy to employees regarding sick time benefits and procedures.
In light of the new sick leave law, employers should implement a system for tracking employee earned and used sick time.
For assistance with leave laws or policies, or for other legal advice, contact Allyson Kurker and Margaret Paget at Kurker Paget LLC.
In the News:
Kurker Paget welcomes Vanessa De Santis, who has joined us as an associate. Vanessa is a graduate of Boston College Law School and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Prior to joining Kurker Paget, Vanessa clerked in the civil litigation group at a Boston law firm, where she worked on a number of projects pertaining to real estate development, corporate organization, employee relations, bankruptcy, and regulatory compliance. Vanessa has also clerked for the Office of the General Counsel at Northeastern University, where she worked on a number of compliance, employment, immigration, and tax issues. Vanessa is eager to begin practicing in the fields of employment and higher education law at Kurker Paget.