Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom Do New Paid Sick Time Laws Affect You

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom Do New Paid Sick Time Laws Affect You This year is shaping up to be an interesting one for HR compliance. The most buzz, it seems, is occurring around paid sick leave. In his 2015 State of the Union address, President Obama asked the U.S. Congress to pass national legislation granting American workers the right to paid sick days when they or their family members get sick, or to deal with sexual assault and domestic abuse. Paid sick leave is another benefit that most develop countries provide to workers but the U.S. has up to this point resisted. Instead, most employers have what is known as a single-bucket system for any and all paid time off. Since nothing goes through Congress quickly, Obama also recommended that state and local governments pass legislation. Now, in 2016, this is where most of the action is. Since Obama’s call,four states and 23 cities havealready passed sick leave laws, and as a result, nearly 10 million Americansare now covered by a guarantee to earn paid sick leave. In cities like Spokane, WA, the new legislation requires businesses with 10 or fewer employees to allow them to earn up to three paid days off a year, and larger ones to give workers five days. Spokane’s sick leave bill exempts construction workers, those doing work-study jobs, and seasonal and temporary employees. For more on this issue, head over to the SilkRoad blog.