{"id":5680,"date":"2018-06-04T09:51:15","date_gmt":"2018-06-04T13:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/?p=5680"},"modified":"2024-08-30T11:12:29","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T15:12:29","slug":"paid-sick-leave-is-becoming-more-popular","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/paid-sick-leave-is-becoming-more-popular\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Paid Sick Leave Is Becoming More Popular"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"paidWe\u2019ve all seen it\u2014one of our employees has a bad cold, maybe even the flu, but they come to work anyway. In some cases, the employee has the option of taking time off, and you\u2019d prefer they do so, but still, they show up, putting everyone in the workplace at risk. The reasons vary. Sometimes the employee can\u2019t afford the reduced hours. Sometimes they can take the financial hit, but they\u2019re worried about falling behind on their projects, missing an important meeting, or looking bad next to their co-workers who never seem to take a day off. These are a few reasons why paid sick leave is becoming more popular.<\/p>\n

Some employers encourage sick employees to stay home and rest. To that end, they offer paid sick or personal time so that employees who already feel lousy don\u2019t have to suffer the stress of a smaller paycheck. While paid leave doesn\u2019t work 100% to keep sick employees home, it helps.<\/p>\n

In fact, more and more states have passed laws requiring it. In 2011, Connecticut became the first state to pass a paid sick leave law. Now, a total of ten states plus Washington D.C. require at least some employers to provide paid sick leave; these states are Arizona, California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. And many cities have their own, typically more generous ordinances, such as New York City’s law<\/a>. Albany County, New York is also considering a paid sick leave ordinance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The paid sick leave laws passed so far share some common elements. Employers are typically required to offer an hour of paid sick leave for a certain number of hours worked per week (usually 30 or 40). Every state-mandated paid sick leave law requires employees to be able to use paid sick leave to care for a family member, and most allow the time to be used in case of domestic or sexual violence. The laws vary most\u2014though still not dramatically\u2014with respect to which employees are eligible and when, and what kind of documentation can be required to prove that employees used the leave for a permissible purpose.<\/p>\n

Currently, eighteen states have pending sick leave bills, but we don\u2019t know how many, if any, will soon pass. If a paid sick leave law is enacted in your state, we recommend taking the following steps:<\/p>\n