Massachusetts Requires Paid Sick Leave

Executive Summary

Coverage:  All clients with employees working in Massachusetts.

Effective Date: Employees may begin accruing sick leave under the law on July 1, 2015.

Overview:   Massachusetts voters approved a law that will require employers, under certain conditions, to provide sick leave to their employees. Employees may begin accruing sick leave under the law on July 1, 2015.

Action Required: None at this time.  We will alert clients when the state releases an official poster and will provide clients with a model policy prior to the effective date.

The Details

Covered Employers

Employers with more than 10 employees must provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave. Employers with 10 or fewer employees must provide up to 40 hours of sick leave, but it may be unpaid.  The law does not appear to limit the counting of employees to determine coverage solely to employees working in Massachusetts. However, the Massachusetts attorney general may clarify this issue through future implementing regulations.

Covered Employees

All employees who work in Massachusetts are entitled to sick leave. Employees begin accruing sick leave on their date of hire or July 1, 2015, whichever is later. Employees must work for the company for at least 90 days before they may use accrued sick leave. On and after the 90th day of employment, employees may use sick leave as it accrues.

Accrual and Carryover

Employers must provide a minimum of one hour of sick leave for every thirty hours worked by an employee. Employees may carry over up to 40 hours of accrued, unused sick leave to the next calendar year, but they are not entitled to use more than 40 hours in a calendar year. The law does not require employers to pay employees for accrued, but they must do so for unused sick leave at the time of separation.

Use

Under the law, employees may use sick leave to:

• Care for their child, spouse, parent, or parent in-law, who is suffering from a physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition that requires home care, professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventative medical care;
• Care for their own physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition that requires home care, professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventative medical care;
• Attend their own routine medical appointment or a routine medical appointment for their child, spouse, parent, or parent in-law; or
• Address the psychological, physical or legal effects of domestic violence.

Notice and Certification

When the need for sick leave is foreseeable the employee must make a good faith effort to provide advance notice.

The law permits employers to require reasonable documentation of the need for leave when employees take sick leave for more than 24 consecutive scheduled work hours. Employers may not require that the documentation explain the nature of the illness or the details of a domestic violence. Additionally, employers may not delay the taking of or payment for sick leave because they have not received the certification.

Relationship to PTO Policies

If an employer has a sick leave, vacation or paid time off (PTO) policy, the employer does not have to provide additional paid sick days if: (1) the policy provides paid time off sufficient to meet the accrual requirements of the law; and (2) such time may be used for the same purposes and under the same conditions as the paid sick leave required by the law.

Notice and Recordkeeping

Employers must post a notice about the law in each workplace and provide a copy of the notice to employees. The state attorney general is responsible for developing a notice that employers may use for this purpose. We will alert clients as soon as the required notice is published by the state. 

The attorney general is also responsible for publishing regulations that will require employers to create and retain records relating to earned sick leave.

Model Handbook Policy

We anticipate that the Massachusetts attorney general will issue implementing regulations which will impact the design of sick leave policies.  A model handbook policy will be made available to clients prior to the effective date of the law.  

As always, please contact your HR Business Partner if you have any questions.