Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net
A recent publication by Reed Group outlines a growing trend in FMLA policy- mandated, job-protected paid time off. How will this trend affect your FMLA management?
Seattle is the most recent jurisdiction to enact paid sick and safe leave. Pay attention; you may be next!
Starting September 1, Seattle employers must provide job-protected paid time off to employees for their own or a family member’s health and safety reasons. Seattle joins San Francisco, Washington D.C., and the state of Connecticut in requiring paid sick/safe leave. A host of other locales (including New York City, Denver, Miami-Dade County, and others) are wrestling with the issue as advocates of paid sick and safe leave become increasingly active…
In recent years there has also been a move to enact national paid sick leave requirements. The proposed Healthy Families Act (H.R.1876/S.984) would provide 15 days of paid leave per year for an employee’s or family members health and safety needs…
Why is this trend toward paid sick and safe leave growing? Here’s why: More than 40 million private sector workers – 40 percent of the workforce –don’t have access to earned paid sick days. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, March 2011). This causes workers to choose between going to work ill or missing work and pay – and possibly facing discipline or termination.
This article presents a summary of the Seattle law’s key provisions and links to the ordinance and other materials available online. It also raises considerations for non-Seattle employers; clearly, this is a trend employers need to follow…
Click here to view the full article in the Reed Group Blog, and check out this publication by the National Partnershp for Women and Families to see how this initiative affects your state.