The new Massachusetts Sick Time law will take effect in just two months, on July 1, 2015. Is your business, nonprofit or school ready?
If you are in need of further guidance, please consider coming to a free presentation for nonprofits that noted employment law attorney Jim Kobe and I are giving at the Boston Private Bank & Trust Company, 10 Post Office Square, Boston, MA in the Great Room on the 2nd Floor on Wednesday May 13, 2015 starting at 8:30 AM. Space is limited so it is necessary to RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kI1ytnHJGR-ZMj9wkIYbDgYUzK4foj-N5SdlsFHuNPk/viewform . You should also feel free to call me at 617-872-8648.
Following up on an earlier blog posted on January 20, 2015 that summarized some key parts of the new Massachusetts Sick Time law as approved by voter referendum in the 2014 election, this blog will now highlight the proposed “Earned Sick Time” regulations released this week by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FOREGOING HIGHLIGHTS REFLECT THE PROPOSED REGULATIONS WHICH MAY BE DIFFERENT FROM THE FINAL REGULATIONS THAT WILL BE PROMULGATED AFTER THE ON-GOING REVIEW AND PUBLIC HEARING PROCESS. These highlights should also be read in conjunction with the summary provided in the earlier January 20th blog.
HIGHLIGHTS OF PROPOSED ATTORNEY GENERAL REGULATIONS
1. Administrative Requirements Imposed on Employers
If you are in need of further guidance, please consider coming to a free presentation for nonprofits that noted employment law attorney Jim Kobe and I are giving at the Boston Private Bank & Trust Company, 10 Post Office Square, Boston, MA in the Great Room on the 2nd Floor on Wednesday May 13, 2015 starting at 8:30 AM. Space is limited so it is necessary to RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kI1ytnHJGR-ZMj9wkIYbDgYUzK4foj-N5SdlsFHuNPk/viewform . You should also feel free to call me at 617-872-8648.
Following up on an earlier blog posted on January 20, 2015 that summarized some key parts of the new Massachusetts Sick Time law as approved by voter referendum in the 2014 election, this blog will now highlight the proposed “Earned Sick Time” regulations released this week by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FOREGOING HIGHLIGHTS REFLECT THE PROPOSED REGULATIONS WHICH MAY BE DIFFERENT FROM THE FINAL REGULATIONS THAT WILL BE PROMULGATED AFTER THE ON-GOING REVIEW AND PUBLIC HEARING PROCESS. These highlights should also be read in conjunction with the summary provided in the earlier January 20th blog.
HIGHLIGHTS OF PROPOSED ATTORNEY GENERAL REGULATIONS
1. Administrative Requirements Imposed on Employers
- EMPLOYERS MUST HAVE A POLICY OR PROCEDURE IN PLACE ON HOW EMPLOYEES NOTIFY THEM OF ABSENCES OR LEAVES.
- Employers must keep a “true and accurate record of the accrual and use of earned sick time.”
- An employer must provide a paid sick time benefit if it had 11 or more employees on the payroll for either (a) 20 or more total weeks over the current or preceding calendar year, or (b) for 16 consecutive weeks over the current or preceding calendar year.
- All employees are included in the employer’s count, whether or not they work in Massachusetts or are eligible for the sick time benefit.
- Employees include all full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees as well as interns, as long as they receive compensation.
- All full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees as well as interns, as long as they receive compensation.
- Employees need only have Massachusetts as their “primary” place of work to be eligible for the sick time benefit – this means a plurality of their work time is spent in Mass, not a majority (more time in Mass than anywhere else).
- In determining an eligible employee’s sick time benefit, all of the employee’s hours count, even if not worked in Mass. (formula under the law is one hour of sick time earned for every 30 hours worked).
- During the “transition year” i.e. 2015, employers who already provided paid sick time before July 1 need not provide another 40 hours but instead get credited for the paid time provided before July 1 and only have to provide a total of 40 hours for the entire year.
- During the “transition year” i.e. 2015, employers who already provided unpaid sick time before July 1 and now must provide paid sick time do not have to pay for past sick time but must allow their employees to accrue and use up to 40 hours of paid sick time for the remainder of the year.
- Employers can require an employee to use up to a full shift – rather than one hour or less – of sick time if the nature of the employee’s work requires the employer to find a substitute to work the entire shift.
- An employer has the option to offer employees a year-end payout in lieu of unused but earned sick time; however, if such a payout is made, the employer must start the employee with a credit of at least 16 hours of sick time at the beginning of the next year.
- An employer may, as part of its notification policy or procedure, require employees to “submit written verification” that sick time has been properly used – but that cannot include medical or domestic abuse documentation unless the employee has used more than 24 consecutive hours of sick time.
- If an employee does not have a health care provider and the employer requires written verification, the employee can simply sign a verification statement (the AG’s office has indicated it will prepare a model form for this purpose)
- An employer can require its employees to give up to 7 days notice before using sick time if the reason for the sick time is for a “pre-scheduled or foreseeable absence”; but again, this must be part of the employer’s notification policy or procedure.
- Employers “may discipline the employee for misuse of sick leave” – but it is unclear how far that discipline can go.
- PTOs are allowed, but seem problematic.