Sick Time Law - Is Your Business Ready?

The Mass. Mandatory Sick Leave Law went into effect on July 1.

• Is your business in compliance?
• Do you know what steps you still need to take?
• How quickly can you get your business up to speed?

Agenda

7:30am - arrival, registration, networking (Light refreshments served)
8:00 - 9:30am - program and Q&A
 

Massachusetts Manadatory Sick Time Law
Voters in Massachusetts approved the ballot measure requiring employers to provide sick time for all employees. In doing so, Massachusetts joined a small group of states with mandatory sick time laws. What this means for employers is that they must provide sick leave for all employees beginning on July 1, 2015. Whether the leave must be paid or not is based upon the number of employees but all employers, regardless of size, must provide at least the mandated number of sick days.
For employers with 11 or more employees, the sick time must be paid; for employers with 10 or fewer employees, the sick time may be unpaid. Employers are well advised, therefore, to review their current leave policies, especially so­ called "Paid Time Off" policies that combine various forms of leave, to address this new sick time requirement before its effective date.
The law's definition of "sick time," is broad. It covers employees who need time (1) to care for a child, spouse, parent, or parent of a spouse who is suffering from a physical or mental illness, injury or medical condition that requires homecare, professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventative medical care, or (2) to care for the employee's own physical or mental illness, injury or medical condition that requires homecare, professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventative medical care, or (3) to attend the employee's routine medical appointments or routine medical appointments for a child, spouse, parent, or parent of a spouse, or (4) address the psychological, physical or legal effects of domestic violence.
As of July 1, 2015, employers will be required to provide at least one hour of earned sick time for every 30 hours worked by an employee. Accruals will begin on the date of hire (or, for current employees, July 1, 2015), but employees are not entitled to use accrued sick time before the 90th calendar day after their hire date. The rate of pay required for paid sick leave is the rate the employee is earning at the time the leave is taken, rather than the rate that is in effect at the time.